


Godly Diaries: The Secrets of Irene

by Aesthetic___freckles



Series: The Godly Diaries [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft diaries - Fandom, aphmau - Fandom, mcd - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/F, F/M, M/M, This is just MCD but in book form so more detail, catface studios... please don't sue me, it's a more 'in depth' version of MCD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 127,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29505318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aesthetic___freckles/pseuds/Aesthetic___freckles
Summary: Peace had been restored between Scaleswind and Phoenix Drop, the fighting had come to a halt. But there was still more to fight for, Zane Ro'Meave a High Priest and psychotic man that had been driven to madness by the devotion to his Father and the Goddess known as Lady Irene had manipulated his older brother Garroth Ro'Meave into giving him a relic that would create a portal to the realm of Lady Irene herself.Aphmau Shalashaska, the Lord of Phoenix Drop, and her group of friends got transported into the realm of Lady Irene along with Zane and his two goons. As the group entered something of a church inside the realm of Lady Irene the relic of Lady Irene was absorbed by Aphmau Shalashaska herself and Zane did not take that nicely. The psychotic man turned into a demonic corrupted version of himself, right as Zane was about to kill Aphmau two things happened:1. A white portal shows up in the Irene Dimension2. Garroth Ro'Meave sacrificed himself as everything ran through the portal to get to assumed safety.Sadly... things aren't as they were back before they entered the portal... but what things changed exactly and how will those things affect Aphmau and her friends.
Series: The Godly Diaries [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965418
Comments: 12
Kudos: 4





	1. Welcome Back.

Everyone was thrown out around the forest, the flash of light had died down and all was left were heavy breathing and quick breaths of shock and anxiety. A hand went to Aphmau’s cheek, pulling her face upwards, someone then asked her if she was okay.

Aphmau sat on the grassy floor in shock, no words came out of her agape mouth as she looked around. Emmalyn and Kenmur were hugging each other and making sure the other was okay, Kitten was slowly standing up and looking around the place, Laurance was laying down on the floor taking in deep breaths, Oberon was sitting against the tree doing the same, and Katelyn was looking into Aphmau’s eyes in worry “Are you okay?” She repeated. 

“I… I don’t know. Garroth!” Aphmau called out “Garroth!” 

Katelyn pulled her hand back “Aphmau, please.” 

“Where is he? We need to go back, we need-” She turned behind her to just see an empty white portal, her heart jumped “No, NO! No, no, no, no, no!” She cried while rubbing her hands along the inside of the portal trying to find something that would let her through “He can’t be gone! He’s not gone, how can we get back!” Her body burned with pain. 

“Aph stop, Aph please.” Laurance pleaded, grabbing her arms and pulling her away from the portal. 

“No! We need to go back, Laurance please listen to me I can’t leave him!” She cried, whipping her body to face him “We can’t leave him, please tell me he’s not gone!”

“Aph, he’s…” Laurance’s sentence faded out as he bit his lip, tears were forming in his eyes. 

Tears started streaming out of Aphmau’s face “No! He’s not gone, please just need to go back!” 

“Aph, please, please stop.” Laurance held on tightly to Aphmau as she sobbed into his chest, he laid his head on hers and started crying softly with her “I know, it hurts.” He rubbed her back while tears streamed out of his eyes. 

Everyone stood silently as they watched the pair sob, they almost started crying as well. The sobs and cries of Aphmau echoed through the forest, going through everyone’s hearts. It sounded like someone had died, well someone had to her, it was horrific to hear her screams.

The woman who had helped drag Aphmau out of the dimension kneeled next to her, she placed her hand on her back. Aphmau turned her head, snot was coming out of her nose and her face was wet with tears “Who the fuck are you?” She asked in the middle of her cries. 

The woman had a soft face which was caring, she had nice pretty eyes. Her skin was a light brown, she was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt with sleeves that got bigger towards the end under a brown corset and multiple brown belts that had little pouches attached to them, she had brown gloves along with brown leggings and dark brown boots. She looked absolutely stunning, the wrinkles near her tear ducts and mouth showed Aphmau that this woman was slowly aging. “It’s really you.” The woman said softly, tears coming to her eyes. 

“You didn’t… you didn’t answer my question.” Aphmau hiccuped. 

“I knew you wouldn’t recognize me. It's me… it’s Zoey.” The woman smiled softly. 

Aphmau’s eyes widened with shock, she quickly released her arm from Laurance and hugged Zoey tightly “You look so different, oh my Irene I didn’t even know it was you.” 

Zoey laughed “I would expect that, I mean it had been fifteen years.” Everyone and everything in the area froze at the words that Zoey just spoke. 

Aphmau slowly pulled away from the smiling Zoey “Fifteen… what the fuck do you mean fifteen years?” 

“I mean it’s been fifteen years. I don’t know how else to explain that to you, I’m sorry.” Zoey said. 

“Oh, my Irene.” Katelyn and Emmalyn said at the same time for two different reasons. 

Emmalyn went first “Aphmau you know how I said that every minute in the Irene dimension means a year here… we were probably there for around fifteen minutes.” 

“What? No, no that can’t be.” Aphmau said, her anxiety hiking up. 

“Aphmau please, breathe,” Zoey said, placing her hands on Aphmau’s arms. 

Katelyn stared down at her gauntlets in shock “Oberon please check if you still have your morning stars.” She said with fear. 

Oberon shook his head with confusion, he brought his hand behind his back and acted like he was bringing a weapon out like he usually did to obtain his morning stars but nothing happened. No weapon appeared in Oberon’s hand which caused him to start panicking, he still had his large purple sword on his waist but he no longer had his Jury of Nine weapon. 

“Are you guys okay?” Kenmur asked. 

Katelyn looked at the scientist in slight fear “We’ve lost our Jury titles, we can no longer use our weapons.” 

“When did Zane do this?” Oberon asked, “We were with him the entire time.” 

“Do you think it happened when we were leaving, he did a quick take away?” Katelyn asked. 

“Zane can take away your Jury of Nine titles? How?” Laurance asked in confusion. 

“Well Zane I guess was our boss, he can take away our titles by simply saying the word but most of the time the member has to be aware that their title is being taken away.” Katelyn explained “We both were not aware-” 

“ARE YOU GUYS NOT FUCKING WORRYING HOW WE’RE FIFTEEN YEARS INTO THE FUCKING FUTURE!?" Aphmau screamed at the group. 

“Zoey, what happened when we left?” Kitten asked.

Zoey looked between Aphmau and Kitten and stood in the middle of the group to explain everything “The original plan was to clean up Phoenix Drop and restore it after the war but… when you left everyone started panicking. Scaleswind eventually decided that with the main people in the alliance gone… there was no reason for them to help this village, they meant it in the nicest way possible. After almost a year of searching we gave up, we accepted the fact that you were gone and no one had any idea what to do. No one could bring themselves to be the new Lord of Phoenix so eventually the structure of the village collapsed. Many of the villagers took up the offer of Scaleswind and sought refuge there and… some went off elsewhere.” Zoey told the story. 

“Is everyone gone?” Laurance asked his arm around Aphmau to try and calm the woman down. 

Zoey shook her head “No, there are still people here, a few. We’ve made a small settlement set up near the shoreline.” She went silent, looking around the group “How is everyone.” 

“Terrified.” 

“Confused.” 

“Scared.” 

“I don’t know what’s going on exactly.” 

“Meh.” 

“Zoey is… is Belladonna here?” Kitten asked.

Zoey nodded “Yeah, she at the settlement I can show you where it is.” 

“How did you get to the Irene Dimension?” Emmalyn asked. 

“You were in the Irene Dimension? I wasn’t aware of that but, I’ve been trying for years to get you guys out of wherever you were and it isn’t something you can do without consequences.” Zoey explained, “There’s no easy way to replicate what I did, I’m sorry.” 

“How did you know I was going to ask how you replicate it?” Emmalyn asked.

“Garroth… Garroth isn’t here. I know you want to go back for him but you can’t… I’m sorry.” Zoey turned to Kitten “Now, do you want me to show you where the settlement is?” 

Laurance gasped, he leaned back and took his hand off Aphmau “The grave.” He whispered before he ran off into the forest. Aphmau shook her head in shock and ran after the man. 

All that was left in the clearing were Katelyn, Oberon, Emmalyn, and Kenmur. 

“So what’s our course of action?” Oberon asked. 

Emmalyn looked up “Are you kidding me right now!? Are you not bothered by any of this?” 

“Bothered by what? The fact that we’re fifteen years into the future or the fact that we visited the fabled dimension of Irene?” The man asked. 

“That we’re fifteen years into the future.” Emmalyn deadpanned. 

“The no, I’m not bothered in the slightest.” 

“What why? Everyone that you know could be dead and gone!” Emmalyn asked. 

Oberon sighed “There’s a huge difference between you and me. You had people you loved and cared about before you got sucked into the Irene dimension. The thought of coming back to a time where loved ones have probably already accepted the fact that you’ve passed away… it would be hard for any regular person to accept.” 

“Then what are you if you aren’t a ‘regular person’?” Emmalyn asked. 

“I’m a broken person if you want the answer. I’ve been through some stuff, also if we’re going through this since I’m no longer a Jury of Nine I would prefer it if all of you wouldn’t call me Oberon anymore.” The man said. 

“Of course yeah, then what is your name?” Katelyn asked.

“I don’t care what you refer to me as but… just don’t call me Oberon.” The man answered, “Now I feel like we should go find the village and then meet back up at the settlement wherever it is.” 

The group agreed, Emmalyn and Kenmur got up and started to follow the man to the village. He didn’t know where he was going exactly but maybe they could catch up to Zoey and Kitten and they could show the way. 

Aphmau finally caught up to Laurance, who was kneeling in defeat at the edge of a small flower patch, after limping through the forest for a while. The guard was running his hands through the flower patch, the tears were coming back to his eyes as he stared at the flower patch. 

“Laurance?” Aphmau whispered, sitting on her knees next to him. “Laurance, are you okay?” 

He scrunched up his face as he began crying, sobbing almost “Ungrth’s grave it’s… his grave.” he rubbed the dirt under his hands and got closer to the ground “What type of sick monster would still from the dead!?” Aphmau could only hug the man as his tears fell into the rich soil that beautiful flowers grew from. He cried and talked about Ungrth, how he had helped him get out of the scarring place that was Hell, the place that had changed Laurance, killed the man that he once was. Sometimes when no one was paying attention to him he would just stare into the void and his brain would make him remember the terrible things that happened to him, he could still feel the cold metal that went through his head the moment that Aphmau and Castor left the castle. Ungrth had been with him for so long, he had saved him and Laurance wanted the best for his friend, when he was informed from the Wyverns that they built him a grave he would go there every time and just… cry. 

“This has to be a dream, right?” Laurance asked, “I mean first we lose Garroth and now I find out that Ungrth’s grave has been robbed.” 

Aphmau pulled away “I wish it was.” Tears fell from her eyes “I really wish it was.” 

“So this is what’s happening? This is our lives now? Fifteen years into the future?” Laurance asked. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Aphmau nodded, she looked at the man’s face “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry before?” 

Laurance realized this as well “I try not to, it hurts. I’ve been through too much shit for crying to not hurt.” 

“Do you still think about what happened in hell?” Aphmau asked. 

Laurance gave Aphmau a look as if she were stupid “Why wouldn’t I be? I was tortured and murdered there, of course, I’m going to still think about it.” 

“I’m sorry, you’ve just… never talked about. I thought it didn’t bother you.” Aphmau answered. 

“Well it does,” his voice failed “it really does.” he sniffled and cried onto the back of his hand. 

“Laurance you know you can always talk to me, you don’t have to keep it all bottled up.” Aphmau rubbed the man’s back.

“It isn’t always easy to just… talk about it… I don’t even wanna be having this conversation.” Laurance said, “Can we please just stop talking about this?” 

Aphmau nodded “Do you wanna go and find the settlement?” Aphmau asked. 

Laurance looked at the flower patch before looking back at Aphmau and nodded. There were no words between the two but Laurance helped get Aphmau and they started going the way that they hoped would lead them to the village. 

When they approached the wall Aphmau almost broke down in tears, it had decayed and most of the structure had fallen. Vines and greenery had grown in the cracks of the stone, it was like the earth was slowly swallowing the wall. It was saddening to see something that the village had worked so hard on just… waste away into the earth, her heart broke as she walked through the decaying wall, inside the village was even worse. The bridge that had connected the land that held the wall and the land that held the actual village was decayed and had weeds and vines growing out of the cracks, it was depressing. The trees had overgrown the land, towering over them and casting large shadows leaving the place that Aphmau once knew as Phoenix Drop in the dark. They walked through the village until they came across Emmalyn and Kenmur who were both holding a small stack of books. Aphmau and Laurance made their way towards the pair who didn’t even notice them at first. 

“How are you guys dealing with this?” Aphmau asked. 

Kenmur turned his head “Oh hi! Um, I’m fine really.” He answered, “I mean I don’t have parents to check up on since they died like a few years ago… our time, a few years, the only person I care for and would love to check up on is Ulrich but I bet he’s fine on his own.” 

“What about the whole… time thing?” Aphmau asked. 

“It’s scary, I wish it didn’t have to be but, interestingly, we were able to basically time travel. Time travel is talked about in the science community and I’m kinda happy I got to experience it.” Kenmur explained.

“Well my statue of Irene is gone, which meant a lot to me so that sucks but I got almost half of my book collection which means whoever went through my house only wanted shiny things,” Emmalyn answered. 

“Maybe someone at the settlement has it,” Laurance suggested, he had dried his eyes so they were just red now. 

“Do you know where Katelyn or Oberon are?” Aphmau asked the pair. 

Emmalyn nodded “Yeah! I’m pretty sure they’re already at the settlement, I just wanted to stop by my house to see if my books were there.”

Aphmau nodded. They passed by the plaza and Aphmau stopped, the plaza had taken the most brutal of hits from father time and mother nature, it broke her heart. In the far distance Aphmau could see a large tree that used to be the treehouse, she assumed that was where the settlement was, she told the others to go without her because she wanted to do something. She remembered the statue of Irene, if there was anyone she could go to it would be that statue. After visiting the dimension of Irene maybe she could finally answer Aphmau and give her help through this terrible time. 

She walked through the plaza, reminiscing on old times where she would talk to Donna and Logan while they were selling things when she first met Zoey, Belladonna, and Kitten. It hurt that those times were gone with this village practically being gone. She passed by her house and realized that unlike everything around it wasn’t decayed and dull, it looked as if she never left if she didn’t look at the scenery around it. She immediately began worrying about her dogs but as she made her way towards the beach she found that none were there, they were probably dead which hurt her heart, even more, her heart was almost experiencing as much pain as her body. She was no longer bleeding but her stitches had still been ripped and her body had bruises all over so even breathing was painful. She went down the stairs that went towards the beach and followed the path towards the Irene statue, she wasn’t even near it yet and she could still feel its energy, burning into her soul. It was the same feeling she got when the glowing flame got absorbed into her body, it made her wonder what that flame even was. She walked up the stone stairs that led up to the statue and froze, she stared at the back of the blue-haired man she had met all that time ago. 

“Dante?” She whimpered, tears coming to her eyes for probably the twentieth time today. 

The man turned around and silently gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth and tears brimming his eyes “Aphmau?” The man was always on his knees from praying to Irene so he didn’t need to fall.

Aphmau ran and hugged the man tightly, knocking them both almost into the water that surrounded the Irene statue. She gripped her hand in the man’s hair and cried into his shoulder, Dante did the same to her. 

“Do you realize how long I’ve been looking for you!?” The man yelled, pulling away from Aphmau to look at her “How every night I go to bed thinking that I should have been by your side to protect you from whatever took you away!?” 

She put her hands on the sides of the man’s head as he cried, she stayed silent as he continued to vent “Every single day I’ve gone back to that one spot where you told me to stay! Today of all days when I decided to hold off on patrol there, you come back.” He said through his tears. 

“I’m so sorry… you look so different.” Aphmau noted, “I didn’t even think I was gone that long.” 

Dante rolled his eyes “Are you being serious right now? Where did you even go?” 

“I guess I went to the fabled Irene Dimension.” She answered, “I still don’t even know where we went.” 

“Is everyone back? Garroth? Laurance?” The man asked. 

Aphmau’s heart dropped as she heard Garroth’s name, she shook her head “Can we… can we talk about that later?” 

Dante noticed Aphmau’s drop in mood and dropped the subject “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He stared into Aphmau’s eyes “Gods you haven’t changed one bit, you look the same… it’s kinds of a comforting sight.” He brushed his hand against Aphmau’s cheek. 

She smiled softly “Dante…”

Dante’s eyes widened and he jumped up “Do you want to see everyone? I’m sure everyone wants to see you come on!” He grabbed Aphmau’s hand and pulled her up, bringing her to the gate of the settlement. He informed Aphmau of everyone that lived there, Malachi, Levin, Donna, Logan, and their four kids, Kawaii~Chan and their daughter, Zoey, Kyle, and Alexis. Kiki’s barn had taken a good beating but there was a healthy group of hamster living under it which Aphmau didn’t notice at first when she was walking through the village and they had also moved the old Lord’s house closer to the tree because Levin and Malachi wanted to live in it, more Levin than Malachi though. 

They stopped at an open gate, Kitten and Belladonna were hugging each other tightly on the floor while crying, everyone else had spread out. The settlement was small but it held a few small buildings for the few people that lived there. A small gasp alerted Aphmau and she turned her head towards the sound, Levin was standing there with tears brimming his eyes. 

“Mom?” He whimpered. 

Aphmau ran and hugged the boy tightly, almost knocking them back. The boy quickly pulled back “Are you okay? What happened to you? Where were you?” He was asking the questions so fast Aphmau didn’t have an option to answer.

“Levin honey, chill, chill, chill.” She placed her hands on the boy’s shoulders, he was older and taller, of course, his bright blonde hair was fluffy and shaved on the sides. He looked more mature and smarter, he wore a blue shirt with armored shoulders under bulky brown overalls that went to his chest. He had fingerless brown gloves and brown boots, he looked so mature and Aphmau just couldn’t get over it “Is there somewhere we can talk?” 

Levin nodded “Yeah, yeah my uh… my house that me and Malachi share.” he took his mom’s hand and brought her over to a two-story house with the layout of the old Lord’s house, it gave Aphmau a sense of sadness as she remembered what happened to the family that owned this house. She walked past Belladonna and Kitten who were just now getting up and talking to each other, she could talk to Belladonna after talking to Levin.

He brought her inside the house and over to a blue couch that was close to a fireplace. Aphmau sat and he got a cup of tea from his kitchen, he sat across from Aphmau on the couch and handed her the tea “I just… I can’t believe it’s really you.” 

She looked up and down at her son “You’ve so much, I can’t believe you're so old.”

The boy laughed “Well, I wish I could say the same for you.” He awkwardly laughed “I’m sorry it’s just… I get to have my mom back after fifteen years.” He began to tear up and turned his head away from his mother. 

Aphmau placed her tea on the table next to her and went over to the boy and hugged him tightly, she rubbed his back and reassured him that she was going to be staying for good now. Instead of sitting across from him she changed her seating and was now sitting next to her son. He asked her where she had been all these years and she explained to him everything that happened, even the things that she still didn’t understand. It took a few minutes and a cup of tea but Aphmau finished explaining everything to Levin, he was left in a shocked and confused state. 

“So fifteen minutes for you what fifteen years for me… gods I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, mom.” Levin sympathized. 

“Yeah, I’m just… I can’t imagine what  _ you're _ feeling right now.” Aphmau said. 

“I’m relieved.” Levin said after a moment of stuttering “I’m happy you’re home… alive. I thought you had left because you didn’t love me or Malachi anymore.” 

Aphmau gasped “No! No, I would never do that! I love you both so much and I would never  _ ever _ leave you! You guys are my sunshine and happiness.” 

He was smiling brightly as tears came out of his eyes “I know, I know. Zoey told us how much you loved us and how you took us both into your heart when we didn’t have anyone else. She would tell us bedtime stories about all of your adventures every night, she always left us hanging on the best part too.” He let out a small huff of a laugh “So everyone back that left with you that day… except for Garroth right?”

Aphmau nodded “Do you remember Garroth?” Aphmau asked. 

“I know  _ of _ him, I vaguely remember how he was. Everyone here says I look like Garroth, I just hope that they don’t expect me to live up to his reputation… or Laurance’s. Speaking of him, Laurance is back right? I saw him heading up to Donna’s but I never got a chance to talk to him, Malachi is going to freak when he sees him.” Levin laughed. 

“Yeah, Laurance is back. He comforted me when we came back through the portal, he’s pretty distraught though with Ungrth’s grave being robbed.” Aphmau answered. 

Levin nodded “I can understand that, when we found out everyone was distraught as well. If he and Garroth are anything like Dante, my new head guard, then I know they’re good people.” 

Aphmau went along with what he was saying until she realized  _ what _ he said. She gasped with happiness and her eyes widened “Head guard? What do you mean  _ head guard _ ?” She lightly slapped the boy’s arm. 

“Oh yeah! I haven’t really told you anything about what’s happened, huh? Well, from what I was told when I was younger we came back from the ship that sailed off. Malachi and I were devastated that you were gone, Zoey had a hard time dealing with us the months after. It got to the point where she needed help with Malachi and mine’s feelings so she took us to the Yggdrasil Forest, to her home village. Admittedly I don’t remember it very much but it was indeed beautiful and calming. When we came back some years later Zoey had found out that people were slowly leaving the village, no one wanted to step up as Lord after you left so things got a little hectic. Eventually, everyone who isn’t in the village now left but when I came of age a year ago I took on the position of Lord of Phoenix Drop.” Levin explained it all. 

Aphmau gasped again “No you did not! Oh my Irene, how old are you? Gods I’ve missed so much my own son is the Lord of Phoenix Drop, I’ve been dethroned!”

Levin laughed a genuine laugh since Aphmau got here “I’m sixteen, I turned sixteen like a few months ago. I always wanted to be the Lord after hearing from everyone how amazing you were, you inspired me, even if you weren’t there and I thought you didn’t love me you still inspired me. Zoey didn't allow me to become Lord until she was sure I could handle the responsibility of it. Now I’m the Lord of Phoenix Drop and I appointed Dante as my head Guard.” Levin explained. 

“Dear Irene, I’m so proud of you Levin. You are the Lord that Phoenix Drop deserved, truly.” Aphmau remembered how he was the son of the old Lord, he was going to inherit this position anyway. 

“Thanks, but you’ll be proud of Malachi too! He has been so busy helping, he even helps me run the village! Malachi is currently out on a trade meeting with Nahakra Village along with two of our guards, Alexis and Kyle, they should be back by morning though if not tonight.” 

“Oh yeah, Dante told me that Alexis and Kyle live here, what about their parents?” Aphmau asked, “Dante didn’t say anything about them being here.” 

Levin’s mood dropped “They moved away after Kyle and Alexis decided to stay here, they didn’t disown them or anything but they were getting old and they didn’t want to stay here anymore. I’m pretty sure they moved to Scaleswind.” He turned his head and looked out the window, the sun was beginning to set and he jumped with realization “Oh! Mom, it’s getting late and I really want you to meet everyone before dark!” 

“What about you?” Aphmau asked as Levin lifted her. 

“Don’t worry about me! I’ll be fine, I love you mom and what matters is that we’re together now. Now, go see everyone! I have to tend to a few things that need my attention but when you’re done you’re more than welcome to spend the night with me here, I’ll have Dante work on a place for everyone to stay in the meantime.” He guided Aphmau towards the door “I love you.” 

She smiled softly and kissed the boy’s forehead “I love you too.” She said before they both exited the house and split ways, Aphmau went over to the closest house to the wall while Levin went over by the large tree. 

She didn’t know if she should just walk in or not but she decided that it would be a good surprise to the person living in the house. She walked through the door and was met with a little Asian kid with long blue hair sitting at a table with two dolls looking down at her. The little kid had pale skin, one blue eye and one gold one, two pigtails tied with pink polka-dotted ribbons with the rest of their hair going down to their butt, they had a cute little pink button-up shirt with black overall shorts over it. They had white cheetah-like ears with a white cheetah-like tail, they were staring at Aphmau with nervousness “Hello.” The child squeaked out. 

Aphmau’s heart melted at the sight of this adorable child “Hi,” She said softly, careful to not answer “my name is Aphmau.” She introduced herself. 

“Aphmau? Oh like Aphmau~Senpai?” The child gasped “NANA!” She yelled out. 

Aphmau felt as if she was about to be hit upside the head for coming into someone’s house without being invited, footsteps came down from the spiral staircase in the corner met with confused Japanese. The person’s cat ears had more spots and their tail had more stripes, they looked more mature. When the person looked up at Aphmau they both gasped and ran over to hug each other tightly. 

“Aphmau~Senpai!” Kawaii~Chan cried into the woman’s shoulder “Kawaii~Chan has missed you so much! You’re actually here! You’re actually here!” 

Aphmau pulled back to see the meif'’wa’s face more clearly “You look so amazing! How have you been?” 

Kawaii~Chan shook their head “You have no idea how happy Kawaii~Chan is right now, they missed you so much.” Tears fell from the meif’wa’s eyes “They don’t know what to say.” 

Aphmau brushed the meif’was’s hair behind their ear “You’re smile is more than enough.” 

Kawaii~Chan’s smile grew when Aphmau said that, they turned their head and realized that there was a small child right next to them “Oh! Kawaii~Chan hasn’t even introduced you yet to Nekoette~Tan, this is Kawaii~Chan’s daughter.” They extended their arm to show off their daughter. 

Aphmau gasped “Dante told me about her! She’s so beautiful Kawaii~Chan, who's the father?” Aphmau asked. 

Kawaii~Chan immediately got awkward “Dante~Kun.” They said quietly. 

Aphmau gasped again “WHAT!? He did not tell me this when informing me that you had a daughter!” Aphmau yelled. 

“Nana tells me all about your adventures and when you found them in that maid cafe-” 

“We don’t talk about the maid cafe Neko.” Kawaii~Chan stared at their daughter before resuming conversation with Aphmau. 

“Why does she call you Nana?” Aphmau asked. 

“Oh! Um… I never told you this but that’s Kawaii~Chan’s real first name. Kawaii~Chan’s name is Nana Ashida but friends call them Kawaii~Chan.” Kawaii~Chan informed. 

“Oh.” Aphmau nodded “I’m still shocked that he didn’t tell me you two had a kid.” 

Kawaii~Chan giggled “Dante~Kun must have been so shocked that Aphmau~Senpai returned that he didn’t think to tell you this kind of stuff. Dante~Kun still wears his old uniform, I’m sure you saw, he refuses to let me upgrade it for him so it’s a little worse for wear. He missed you so much.” 

Aphmau laughed “He cried in my arms, I would expect him to always wear that old thing.” Aphmau looked out the door, the sun was getting lower and lower and the sky was getting darker “I really should be getting to see other people, I still need to see Belladonna and Donna and her kids and-” 

“It’s okay Aphmau~Senpai!” Kawaii~Chan reassured the old Lord “Maybe sometime later this week you could join us for dinner?” 

“Yes of course I’d love that, have a nice day Kawaii~Chan.” Aphmau waved goodbye to the meif’wa. 

“You too Aphmau~Senpai!” Kawaii~Chan waved goodbye and closed the door behind Aphmau. 

Aphmau sighed and started walking towards a house she saw in the distance but was attacked instead. She was brought down to the ground by what felt like a heavy sandbag, she pushed back and saw the teary face of Belladonna. Aphmau laughed in shock and hugged the woman’s neck tightly, rolling on the grass floor. Aphmau pulled back to look at the woman better “Bella you don’t know how happy I am to see you.” She cried, she didn’t look like she had changed one bit which was comforting to Aphmau.

“You don’t know how happy  _ I _ am! I haven’t seen you in fifteen years!” Belladonna pulled in again to hug the woman again. “You don’t know how much I missed you.” 

Aphmau laughed “I saw you and Kitten on the floor crying today before I visited Kawaii~Chan.” Aphmau said, “I’m surprised you aren’t screaming right now, I’m a little hurt.” 

Belladonna laughed “I got all my screaming out of the way with her, now I’m just sad.” 

They sat up to talk to each other better and get a better look at each other rather than staring at the grass behind them. They sat there for a little bit, sitting silently across from each other while holding hands. It was a soft and quiet moment as the cold air began rushing from the night slowly returning to gaze upon the earth that Aphmau sat on, the earth that had aged while Aphmau was away in the Irene Dimension, the earth that Garroth would no longer be able to touch, and the earth that Zoey had somehow bent into her hands to 'break the barrier’. 

“How did… do you know how Zoey ‘broke the barrier’ or whatever she talked about doing,” Aphmau asked. 

Belladonna’s face turned sour, she avoided eye contact with the woman in front of her “I don’t think Zoey would appreciate it if I told you. She sacrificed something very special to her to get you guys here.” She sighed “I know you want to bring Garroth back, I saw, but it’s impossible to get him back and the word ‘impossible’ isn’t really in my vocabulary.” 

“Oh right, the Titan of the present… did everyone find out about that or?” Aphmau asked, she knew that the only people that knew were her, Kitten, and Zoey. She wondered if Belladonna also knew about Kitten’s ‘fuck up’. 

Belladonna shrugged “Not ‘everyone’. Levin and Malachi found out sometime around three-ish years ago because I was meditating and they walked in on me in my almost true form. But besides them no one else knows, they can’t know it would destroy everything and they would be able to see things that they shouldn’t see. I suppose Kitten was freaking out about the timeline and things like that when you guys disappeared… she messed up when she kicked me away from that vacuum.” 

Aphmau nodded “I still don’t understand how someone whose main thing is being a Titan of time can mess up time.” 

“Well there are certain events that need to happen and we make sure that those events  _ do _ happen, if something is about to happen that isn’t supposed to happen we intervene. Kitten saw everyone going into the Irene Dimension, she didn’t see herself kicking me away from the ‘entrance’ I guess… she made an event happen that wasn’t supposed to happen and it can just mess up what we want to happen. Donna was only supposed to have two kids from what I saw but… now she had four.” 

Aphmau went silent. This whole timeline concept went over her head, it was difficult to understand, it was impossible to understand. She couldn’t grasp the idea of how something so small could change everything in such a big way, did something small happen that made her become the Lord of Phoenix Drop? Maybe she would never know, maybe she would find out tomorrow… It was strange to her and made her brain hurt. “Do you… do you think I could perform the ritual?” 

Belladonna quickly shook her head “You can’t.” 

“There has to be some way.” 

“There isn’t, don’t try it.” 

“We have to save Garroth.” 

“Zoey gave up her immortality for this.” Belladonna snapped. 

Aphmau went silent “Excuse… what?” 

“Yeah. I told her not to and she did it anyway, I told her so many times that it wasn’t worth it but she did it anyway.” Belladonna answered, “These might be the last a hundred years of her life.” 

“Holy shit… I wasn’t expecting that.” 

Belladonna rolled her eyes “Yeah, so you can’t really try the ritual. You would have to sacrifice someone else because  _ you _ don’t have immortality and I know you would never kill someone.” 

Aphmau just sat there in complete shock, she would never want Zoey to risk something so important… to save  _ her _ . She wasn’t even that good of a Lord, a friend, a mother and for some reason, Zoey decided to risk her  _ life _ just to get her back. “Well… this is insane.” Aphmau raked her fingers through her hair “I think I need to go see Donna now. I just… I’m so sorry Bella.” 

“It’s fine, just… don’t try it. Zoey risked everything for you to be here, it would be pointless if you just killed yourself right after. Have fun at Donna’s.” 

“Thanks,” Aphmau said as she got up and walked away, she didn’t understand how that conversation turned so sour so quickly… she must’ve hit a nerve. She walked on a natural path made by the earth towards a two-story house that was outlooking the water, she had to walk under the gigantic tree that used to be Levin and Malahchi’s treehouse, the roots curved upwards and made arches in the sky… it was terrifying. To be honest, everything was terrifying right now, her body had a slight shake to it and she hadn’t really been able to calm down since she got through the portal, and even though she was no longer a screaming crying mess she was still scared of what was happening. She made her way to the house, passing by Oberon. 

“Hey.” She quietly said. 

The man nodded “By the way, my name is no longer Oberon.” 

“Oh… so what is it?” Aphmau asked, stopping in her tracks. 

“Well, I can’t tell you my real name so anything is fine… just not Oberon.” The man informed.

“Oh okay.” Aphmau nodded “Well, have a nice one.” She said as she walked away, the strange saying nothing else. Everything felt so uncomfortable, it wasn’t nice. It was like everything was off, strange conversations, strange moods, strange feelings… Aphmau didn’t like it. 

As she rounded a corner she stopped, Donna was sitting on a rocking chair with a baby cradled in her arms. Three kids were playing in the fields next to her just running around and tackling each other, all three of them had wolf ears and a tail, the tallest one had pure black wolf attributes while the two others had light brown wolf attributes that matched their hair. Aphmau made her way over to the woman and her baby, the three other kids stopped playing to stare at this strange woman. 

“Donna.” Aphmau choked out, Donna was her everything, she cared for her before anyone else did and she was the light in Aphmau’s darkness. The place in her heart for Donna may no longer be as big as it was when she first met the southern woman… she still loved her more than anything “Donna it’s me… Aphmau.” 

Donna turned her head towards the woman and smiled softly “Well you don’t look as if you’ve aged whatsoever, can you tell me where you went so I can look that good?” She laughed “You know I need it with these kids.” 

Aphmau laughed, both of these women were starting to break as tears came to their eyes “You’ve aged beautifully Donna, I don’t know why you would need to look like me.” 

“Of course I’ve aged beautifully darling! I’m a mother of four kids now, I keep in shape!” The woman laughed, lighting Aphmau’s heart up with joy. 

“You don’t even look as if you’ve had one kid.” Aphmau smiled. 

Donna shook her head with a smile “Hey, I can’t hug you right now because… obviously but it’s amazing to see you. Don’t you ever leave us like that again, you hear me!?” Donna pointed her finger at the woman. 

“I won’t, I won’t. So how have you been?” Aphmau asked, sitting down on the steps of the porch. 

“I’ve been great! Logan and I have four amazing children, two of them are twins Rollo and Lello, are new little girl, Luca, and Yip who now has a human form.” Donna nodded towards the tallest out of the three kids who were back to playing in the field. 

“Wow, I swear that logan did  _ not _ like kids.” Aphmau joked. 

Donna laughed “Yeah, that grumpy old man has changed a lot since you left. He’s still a complete jerk but he helped Zoey a lot with Levin and Malachi… thanks to them he had a change of heart.” She went quiet for a moment before looking down at Aphmau “So did everyone that left with you back?” 

Aphmau laughed quietly to herself, it seemed as if everyone was asking this question, and every time her heart hurt more and more. She began to tell Donna what had happened the moment that they left and what had happened in the Irene Dimension, she thought that she deserved to know. When she got to Garroth’s part of the story she began choking up, the realization that Garroth was still stuck there was still settling in and it didn’t make it better that he had confessed his love for Aphmau. She looked up at Donna when she was done with her story. 

“Gods… what a foolish and nobleman. So he told you his feelings?” Donna asked. 

Aphmau nodded “Did you know?” 

Donna nodded “I can read body language very well, it wasn’t hard to tell how Garroth felt about you. But, don’t worry about that now, I’m sure he’s fine and kicking Zane's stupid ass! Oh, by the way, I know you would absolutely love to see Logan and Malachi and those bunch but sadly they're out on a trade but they should be here later tonight or maybe early tomorrow.” 

Aphmau looked sincerely at Donna “Are you okay?” 

“What? Of course, I’m okay! Now that you’re back I’m beaming much brighter than I did on my wedding day, er… don’t tell Logan that. Or tell him, who cares! He’d probably feel the same way, now just rest and wait for the trade boat I guess to see your other son.” Aphmau laughed and stood up from the porch steps. 

Aphmau played with the children for a little bit, learning Yip’s new pronouns which were they/them, hanging out with Rollo and Lello, and understanding that they liked to call themselves the trouble twins which Aphmau thought was a funny name. Aphmau learned that Yip had gone through a lot the past fifteen years, finding out their pronouns and figuring out who they liked, figuring out their family’s history, and finding out that their biological father was the leader of the Eastern Wolf Tribe that had been causing a ruckus through the werewolf community for ages, exploring their own culture as a Native Tu’La from their mother’s side, she also found out that Yip was seventeen. Rollo and Lello were truly insane and Aphmau didn’t understand how Yip and Donna weren’t going insane while watching them. 

Aphmau made her way over to the large tree where it took her a while to find the entrance of the tree which barely changed, she made her way up the tree where at the top she found a large living area with Laurance and Dante in it talking. In front of Aphmau was a large podium that held Laurance, Garroth, and Dante’s old uniforms, like a memorial or something like that. Garroth’s was above both of them and in the middle, Laurance’s was on Aphmau’s left, and Dante’s was on Aphmau’s right. Aphmau turned her head, Dante was showing Laurance the entire place that they were in, Aphmau got their attention and went over to them. “So Dante, you did  _ not _ tell me that you were a father!” 

Dante stuttered “Yeah I um… uh… I’m a dad, surprise!” 

Laurance stifled a laugh but ended up snorting, Aphmau just stood there with her mouth agape. She slapped Dante “It’s not even a  _ surprise _ anymore!” 

Dante burst out laughing “I’m sorry! I was waiting for you to be totally settled until I told you, how was I supposed to know you were going to go see Kawaii~Chan as soon as I left?” 

“You should’ve told me that you were a father when you told me about Kawaii~Chan and their daughter IN THE FIRST PLACE!” 

“Dude, you may be thirty but you are still the stupid person I have ever met.” Laurance laughed. 

Dante rolled his eyes “Yeah well at least I’m not stupid enough to get sucked into a weird-ass dimension.” Dante hit his friend. 

Laurance hit the man back “Below the belt dude, below the belt.” 

Aphmau looked around, cots and hammocks around the area with foldable tables and reusable utensils “Are we going to be staying here?” Aphmau asked, pointing around the room to the things she spotted. 

“Oh yeah, I put up most of the cots while you guys were out talking and meeting up with people. This tree serves as our guard tower as most of the old ones are broken and dust at this point but while you guys are just settling in you guys can stay here.” Dante explained. 

Aphmau smiled softly “Thank you, Dante, that’s so sweet of you.” 

“So you totally learned from me right?” Laurance asked, “I mean how else would you have gotten someone as beautiful as Kawaii~Chan?” 

Dante rolled his eyes, Aphmau raised her eyebrow in question “Laurance you wished he learned from you, oh your ego would be so big.”

“So how are you guys feeling about this place? Is it home yet?” Dante asked. 

Aphmau shook her head “Everything feels so off, I mean this in the absolute nicest way possible but I don’t think that this place could ever really be home for me.” 

“Same, Phoenix Drop was my everything and now we have… this. And yeah, everything does feel like, I’m getting like a feeling that everything is supposed to be like five inches inward.” The group laughed “It’s just… I can’t see it being home for me for a very long time.” 

“That’s fine! It took me a while to finally get settled to this place and I know it’s going to take you guys a lot longer since you’re fifteen years into the future.” Dante said, “It’s small but we’re making do with the people we have left.” 

Laurance’s head was turned towards the ocean “A ship is coming our way… is it the trade ship that Malachi is on?” He asked. 

Dante looked out where Laurance was looking, he nodded his head “Yep! We should go meet them!” 

Laurance turned his head to Aphmau “Do you think… do you think Malachi remembers me?” 

“Oh, I bet he remembers you.” Aphmau laughed. Dante led them down to the bass of the tree, she would meet Kyle, Alexis, and Logan after fifteen years. She didn’t know how she felt really, she felt tired so maybe that would dull down her feelings a bit but she wondered if it was going to be the same as when she saw Levin. She didn’t know how she was going to react when she saw Logan, she didn’t know Alexis and Kyle that much because they were babies but she did know Logan. For her, she just hadn’t seen the man in fifteen minutes but something deep inside her made her miss him, maybe it was the fact that she was starting to settle with the idea that it's been fifteen years. She knew that Laurance hadn’t settled with the idea from how he kept staring into the void when they were doing nothing, he looked scared. 

They followed Dante to behind the gigantic tree where there was a dock with a ship on it. Someone was coming up onto the floor of the ship as they came from a basement. They were older looking and had light grey streaks in their hair that were in a large messy bun. It was Logan. When he spotted Aphmau and Laurance he dropped the crate he was holding onto his foot causing him to groan out in pain “Oh my Irene!” He yelled “Even after fifteen fucking years of you being missing you STILL have the ability to FUCK. ME. OVER!” 

Aphmau, Dante, and Laurance were standing there in shock when Logan picked the crate up from his foot, giving Aphmau a complete death stare. “Logan I’m so sorry!” Aphmau apologized even though she didn’t even do anything. She made her way over to the boat, standing right in front of the wooden plank they put down to walk in and out. “Are you okay?” 

Logan rolled his eyes as three people came up from below the boat, one with dirty blonde hair that was tall and hefty wearing what looked to be a guard uniform, another one with strawberry blonde hair who was short and stocky and who was wearing the same guard uniform that the other person was wearing, and finally a boy with dark brown hair and dark tan shin with green eyes. Malachi stood on the boat with shock in his eyes, he had a long green scarf that wrapped around his neck and covered his mouth, his brown hair was short and faded on the sides, he had a brown shirt and high-waisted brown pants with black boots. The two others stood there in complete shock as Logan just acted as nothing had ever happened, but like everyone else, his eyes were starting to tear up too. 

“Malachi?” Aphmau whispered as she stared at the boy in front of her, he was so much taller, more mature. 

Malachi ran over to the woman and hugged her tightly, almost knocking them onto the dock floor. Laurance stood there with a smile carved into his face and Dante stood next to them proud, he began helping the other people on the boat and explaining to them what was going on.

Malachi pulled away and started making strange gestures and signals with his hands that Aphmau didn’t understand. She grabbed the man’s wrist which shook him with shock “Honey, what are you trying to say?” 

Dante went back over to Aphmau “Um, I don’t know what Malachi was trying to say because I wasn’t paying attention but Malachi can’t talk. A while ago he was attacked by pirates and they slit his throat, he survived but his vocal cords didn’t. He signs now.” Dante explained while holding a crate. 

“Oh, um, so what is he trying to say?” Aphmau asked. Malachi began signing to Dante what he was trying to tell his mother. 

“I missed you so much over these past fifteen years that I don’t know what to say. Where have you been, I miss hugging you, did you know that Kyle is my boyfriend, do you know what I’ve been up to, I miss you.” Dante translated. 

Aphmau smiled brightly “I can tell you where I’ve been once we all calm down, I miss you hugging you as well, I  _ did _ not know that Kyle was your boyfriend, all I know about you is that you’ve been at trade with a village, and I miss you too.” 

Malachi’s eyes showed that he was smiling, tears fell from his eyes when Laurance tapped on his shoulder. He turned around and gasped loudly, throwing his arms around the man’s neck and hanging off him. What Aphmau assumed to be Alexis and Kyle appeared at Aphmau’s side, Logan stood behind them. 

“Hello, ma'am!” Alexis greeted her. 

“Hi, Apple.” Kyle smiled. 

Aphmau gasped “Kyle! You remember me!?” When Kyle was first learning everyone in the village’s name he had always called Aphmau  _ Apple _ since he couldn’t get her name right. 

“Of course I remember you!” Kyle laughed “Also I hope you’re okay with me dating… your… son.” He cringed. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “As long as he doesn’t come crying into my arms because you broke his heart I’ll be fine, I know you’re a good kid.” She turned her attention to Alexis “Now are you dating my other son?” 

Alexis’ face turned red “What!? No, no, no, NO! Not to be mean or anything, Levin is attractive, but I could never date the Lord of the village, too many complications and dangerous possibilities that could happen. 

Kyle rolled his eyes “My Enki, Alexis! It’s not like she’s asking you if you married her son, chill.” 

“I’m sorry, it’s just I wasn’t expecting a question like that especially since I don’t remember you all that much Miss. Aphmau.” Alexis admitted, “I vaguely recall your face but I do know of your amazing deeds as a Lord.” 

Aphmau nodded “Thank you, now Dante did tell me that your parents left but why? I wish I could see them.” 

“I know they would absolutely  _ die _ if they saw you.” Kyle joked “My parents left for Scaleswind because it was practically pointless for them to stay in a decaying village.” 

Alexis nodded “Mine too, they tried so hard to fight for this village to stay  _ alive _ but all their efforts were just pointless as more and more people were leaving and letting the village rot. It got to a point where they were just completely stressed and couldn’t take it anymore, I was guard training with Dante and I just couldn’t leave so they gave me a choice, to stay or to leave with them. The choice I made was pretty obvious but it was in no mean nature, they send me care packages now and then.” 

“Same here,” Kyle said. 

Logan pushed past the two guards to stare at Aphmau “You really are a pain in my ass even after fifteen years, huh?” 

“And you’re still a jerk after fifteen years…. How’s your foot?” Aphmau asked. 

“I’ll live. I’m surprised you aren’t ashes by now, I swear you were like fifty when I met you.” A smirk rose to Logan’s lips. 

“Oh wow, look who's talking Mr. four kids. I’m surprised you aren’t shriveled on the floor by now with those grey hairs.” Aphmau pointed to the man’s head. 

Logan rolled his eyes before he got semi-serious “I really missed you.” he bit his cheek to prevent him from crying “It wasn’t the same without you.” 

“I missed you too Logan, it kinda hurts to see you look like this. I thought you would’ve taken it easy by now.” Aphmau said, “Thank you for just… staying.” 

The werewolf nodded, she was kinda surprised that  _ he _ didn’t have wolf ears or a tail like his children but maybe it was some type of special trait. “Now I don’t need to start getting all sappy so get out my way!” He yelled. 

Dante elbowed the man “Chill out grandpa.” 

“Oh shut up,  _ senpai _ .” Logan moaned.

Dante gasped “WILL YOU SHUT IT!” 

“Oh, what? You don’t want everyone to know what Kawaii~Chan calls you when you guys-” 

“I will MURDER YOU LOGAN!” Dante yelled as he began to chase the old man. Logan cackled as he ran from the head guard. 

Aphmau sat on the couch that she sat on when speaking to Levin, Malachi sat across from her where Levin sat the first time but now Levin was standing up translating everything that Malachi sat so Aphmau could understand what he was saying. It hurt her heart that she couldn’t understand what he was saying but she was determined to learn RSL while she was here. She remembered Hayden’s new head guard who used Ru’aun sign language because co was deaf, she even remembered co’s pronouns which shocked her… she wondered where Hayden and co were.

She was explaining to Malachi everything that happened as she had done with Levin. 

“Wow, that has to be one of the most insane experiences I’ve ever heard of.” Levin translated “It’s so much to take in.” 

“I know… I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you Mali. You've grown into such a handsome man, the both of you.” Aphmau pointed to Malachi and Levin. 

Tears slowly fell down Malachi’s face, soaking into the scarf. “I can’t believe you’re back. You look that same as you did the day we left, as expected after listening to you. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing a ghost, I still-” Malachi paused his signing to shake his head at Levin and resigned the phrase he was meaning, Levin, made an ‘O’ shape with his mouth before continuing to translate “This is some cruel joke right? I’m going to wake up and see that you aren’t here right?” 

Aphmau shook her head and lightly pinched the man, exciting a jolt out of him, Malachi seemed confused at first before nodding “I love you, Malachi, I’m not leaving this time.” she said. 

His eyes showed he was smiling “I can’t believe you’re really here, I mean dear gods Dante stayed here just looking and searching for you for so many years.” Levin translated. 

“What?” Aphmau asked, “He stayed here for all fifteen years after I left?” 

Malachi nodded “We even held a funeral but… he stayed. He refused to accept the fact that you guys were dead, he stayed here alone.” 

Aphmau sat there in disbelief “That’s… that’s insane.” She laughed and looked back up at her son “That’s literally insane.” 

Malachi agreed “Yeah, I don’t see how anyone can do that… I’d go insane.” He looked into his mother’s eyes “It’s been a long day for you I bet, you probably should go to sleep now and we can hang out and talk more tomorrow.” 

“Are you sure?” Aphmau asked, “I just want you guys to be okay.” 

Malachi grabbed Aphmau’s hands gently before pulling them back to sign “There is no greater happiness I have experienced than finding out you are alive after all this time. We are going to be okay if you go and sleep.” He hugged his mother tightly “ _ I love you, mom _ .” Malachi signed, Aphmau understood what he said through context clues so she didn’t really need the help of Levin’s translation but it still felt nice to know that she guessed correctly. 

She left the boy’s house and headed over to the large treehouse that Aphmau now stayed in with everyone else that came back with her. Laurance, Emmalyn, and Kenmur were all already there getting ready for bed or getting ready to binge read all of the books in front of them. Aphmau chose the cot right next to Laurance because it made her feel a little safer. She would have to get some new clothes tomorrow since she was in the blood-caked, ripped outfit that she wore when the war happened. Laurance turned towards her, he had talked to Malachi a bit while she had been talking to Alexis, Kyle, and Logan. 

“Is it weird that I feel like a father towards Levin and Malachi? Like I have this emotion that I think only a father would feel.” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau shook her head as she got into her bed “It’s not weird, you helped me raise those boys and I see how you would feel as if you are their father.” Aphmau answered. 

Laurance went quiet for a moment before asking a serious question “Now that you’re back… are you going to take back your lordship?” 

Aphmau turned her attention towards Laurance once more, she had confusion on her face “No, no I would never do that to him.” She began explaining why she thought Levin should keep his lordship “I mean his father… his father used to be the old  _ old _ Lord of this village before things went south. He’s  _ supposed _ to be the Lord of this village.” 

Laurance nodded “Even if you aren’t the Lord of this village… I will always protect you.” 

“Thank you, Laurance, now we should probably go to sleep before Dante yells at us for missing our bedtime.” Aphmau joked.

Laurance barked out a laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter!! I don't know what else to say but I'm sleepy and I love you guys!!

Aphmau sat on her bed talking to Laurance, Emmalyn and Kenmur were still reading the books that they collected from Emmalyn’s house to retake notes and make sure that the most important books were still with her, Katelyn was busy looking out one of the many windowless windows while sipping tea, and the strange was sitting on a strange part of the tree that was high up while playing with his sword. It was early in the morning and Aphmau had nothing to do so she just sat and talked to Laurance about everything that was going on. They wondered what happened to O’Khasis and the Jury of Nine after Zane’s disappearance, did they break off and are doing their own thing or are they still together but under a new leader. While talking to Laurance she felt a strange feeling in her leg, like there was a bump. There was something in a pocket that she had on her leg, when she took it out her heart almost stopped. It was Dante’s communication amulet that he gave her during the war when she thought he was working for O’Khasis when it was really Brian who was working for O’Khasis. She had completely forgotten about it but as she held it in her hand memories came back, Dante had gone fifteen long years without his communication amulet that he used when he got scared or panicked… she had taken it from him and never given it back. 

When she was about to tell Laurance about the amulet Levin came from the entrance of the tree to get Aphmau for something “Hey would you mind following me so I can show you something?” He asked. 

“Oh yeah sure, what are you going to show me?” She asked as she got out of the cot she was in and went over to Levin. 

“It’s a surprise!” Levin answered, he grabbed Aphmau’s hand and made her follow him as they went down the tree. Aphmau followed Levin out of the tree, wrapping the amulet around her hand waiting to spot Dante and give it to him but for some strange reason he wasn’t anywhere, she could see. Malachi was signing to Kitten and Belladonna who were holding what looked to be streamers and balloons. Levin dragged her out of the settlement and in the direction of the plaza where instead of stopping in the broken-down place he continued, bringing Aphmau in the direction of the stairs that led up to Aphmau’s house. It warmed her heart that someone would keep her house in such amazing condition for no reason, there was no reason to keep her house this way but someone did. 

Levin opened the door to Aphmau’s old house and her heart stopped, the entire house was dark and empty. A draft moved through the entire house as Aphmau entered it, it felt like a ghost was breathing up her spine. 

“When you left… when we came back everything was making its way towards ruins and it broke me and Malachi’s hearts. From that day the two of us restored your house. We finished it a little over a year ago when I gained my lordship of this village. What do you think?” Levin asked, letting Aphmau explore while he was talking. 

Aphmau turned around to face her son “Why? Why would you do this… for me?” 

“It was our way of keeping you alive… keeping you here,” Levin explained. 

Aphmau looked around her surroundings before her eyes settled back to Levin’s, she hugged her son tightly “Levin, I want you to know that you were supposed to be the Lord of Phoenix Drop from the start.” Aphmau said. 

Levin raised his eyebrow in confusion “What do you mean?”

Aphmau pulled back “Your father… your father was the original Lord of this village before I came along. He had died due to a fire caused by Shadow Knights and the village was in chaos, when I came along I slowly started helping the place and restoring it and the people started referring to me as the Lord.” Aphmau explained. 

“Oh wow.” Levin was left speechless “What about… what about my mother? What were their names?” 

Aphmau smiled softly “Your mother’s name was Matilda, she was an elf, and your father’s name was Malik.” Aphmau answered “I met Matilda, she was a very nice woman and cared for you so much that she let me keep you out of your own safety… I don’t know where she is right now and the worst thing I can think of is that she’s… she’s dead.” 

Levin nodded “Were they good people?” 

“Well Matilda was sweet to me but… I can’t say much about Malik, I don’t think the people of the village liked him very much.” Aphmau answered. 

“Well… at least my mother was good. Thank you for letting me keep this position, I really like being Lord of Phoenix Drop whether it be big or small.” Levin said. 

Aphmau smiled brightly “That’s my boy.”

Nekoette~Tan was playing in the field outside of Kiki’s broken-down barn. She was grabbing flowers and collecting them to make a flower crown for her mom and dad, little did she know someone in the shadows was watching her. Someone who wanted to do bad things to this little meif’wa girl that was doing nothing but collecting flowers for the people she loved. 

“Nekoette~Tan sā, afumau o odoroka senakereba narimasen.” A male voice came from the far side alerting the man watching the little girl, the man walked back into the shadows and made sure that the blue-haired man that went over to the little girl didn’t see him. He would have to wait to catch his prize. 

Levin was dragging Aphmau back to the settlement to show her something, her hand was covering her eyes so she didn’t see anything she wasn’t supposed to. She suspected it had something to do with the balloons and streamers that she saw before she left for her house but she didn’t want to say anything to make Levin happier about surprising his mother. 

Levin placed his hands on Aphmau’s shoulders, making her stop, she heard a chorus of shushing and whispering until it was completely quiet besides the rustling of the trees. Levin told her she could open her eyes and she did as told, everyone popped up from under tables, walls, or chairs and cheered loudly the word ‘Surprise!’ Even Laurance was in on it which probably meant that he was told last minute while she was with Levin. 

Her mouth was agape as she stared at everything, streamers were hung from tree to tree and building to building, balloons were all over the place, and there was a large table in the back that held loads of foods and sweets probably made from Kawaii~Chan. 

“Levin! What is all this?” She asked.

Levin had a huge smile on his face “We wanted to do something special for you and for everyone that came back! I could see that it was hard to settle in from your face, we just wanted to make it a little easier.” 

Aphmau’s heart melted “Thank you, that’s so sweet.” She looked towards everyone, the music started playing, people were starting to make small talk, and the food was being eaten. Malachi came over and hugged his mother tightly. 

“ _ I love you. _ ” He signed, she knew he signed that from simple context clues. She hoped that Levin and him would have some time to help her learn RSL.

The boys split ways and Aphmau went over to Laurance who was standing by himself at the table with food, cutting himself some cake “So, how are you feeling?” She asked. 

“Hm?” Laurance asked turning around “About the party? I like it, Malachi just kinda came up to me and pushed my head under a table with Katelyn and Alexis which was pretty funny.” 

Aphmau laughed “Wow okay but no, did you talk to Dante like I suggested? Did it feel better to talk to him?” 

Laurance made an ‘o’ shape with his face “That’s what you meant, well… it felt a little better talking to him and all. No offense of course but I think it was easier to talk to him than it was to you, I mean like he’s my brother. It was nice.” 

Aphmau smiled softly “That’s good, that’s good. So I’m not sure if I told you this but back before we went in the portal, I’m pretty sure like when Meteli came over and we had that meeting, Dante gave me something significant to him and I still have it.” She showed him the broken communication amulet that she wrapped around her hand “Do you think I should give it to him?” 

“What type of question is that!?” Laurance laughed “Yes of course you should give him it, go, go!” Laurance shooed Aphmau off. She rolled her eyes and slapped the man’s hand away from her playfully, heading over to Kawaii~Chan and Dante who were watching over Nekoette~Tan while also talking to each other. 

Kawaii~Chan noticed Aphmau and squealed happily “Do you like it Aphmau~Senpai? Kawaii~Chan already had a few of the cakes saved up but they had to make the rest really quickly!” 

“I love it Kawaii~Chan, it’s perfect!” Aphmau complimented the meif’wa’s handy work.

“Everyone really bent over backward to get this set up in such a short period of time,” Dante said. 

Aphmau laughed “I still can’t believe they would do this for us, it’s so sweet.” 

“Kawaii~Chan thinks the best part is this is the first time the settlement has had a party in so long!” Kawaii~Chan mentioned, “It’s really nice to see everyone having a good time.” 

Aphmau messed with the amulet wrapped around her hand as she looked at the party, everyone was dancing, drinking, eating, talking, playing stupid party games. The entire place was filled with happiness and it made Aphmau's heart sore. She looked back at Dante, she didn’t know what would happen when she gave the amulet back to him, would he cry, would the party be ruined, would he not accept it? She didn’t want to ruin the sparkle that Dante had in his eyes with this amulet, but maybe because it had meant so much to him his reaction wouldn’t be so bad. “Dante I… can I give you something?” Aphmau asked as she slowly unwrapped the amulet from her hand, making sure it was out of Dante’s eyesight. 

“Hm? Oh sure, what is it?” He asked. 

“Close your eyes,” Aphmau instructed. 

Dante nodded and closed his eyes. Aphmau placed the amulet around the head guard’s neck, Kawaii~Chan stood there in confusion. After Aphmau placed the amulet around Dante’s neck she pulled back and instructed him to open his eyes, when he did he looked down at his neck and went completely silent. His face dropped and you could tell the sparkle he had in his eyes was gone, he gently put the amulet in his hand and stared at it as he started tearing up. He looked up at Aphmau with red eyes. 

“Thank you.” He whimpered before hugging Aphmau tightly “Thank you so much.” Tears fell from his cheeks onto Aphmau’s shoulder.

“I found it… I found it in my pocket.” Aphmau sniffled “I had completely forgotten that I took it from you. I'm so sorry.”

Dante only hugged the woman tighter “I don’t care, thank you, just thank you so much.” 

They stayed like that for a little bit, just hugging each other tightly while Dante cried into Aphmau's shoulder. Even when he pulled back he was still crying softly, Kawaii~Chan put their arm around their husband in comfort. He apologized for his behavior and wiped his eyes, thanking Aphmau one more time before trying to continue the normal conversation. To help make the conversation more ‘normal’ Kawaii~Chan started talking about how they would gladly make Aphmau some new clothes so she didn’t have to wear the same busted outfit that she was wearing right now, they also told Aphmau that Logan must’ve had some clothes that he was selling since he’s merchant brand has expanded in the past fifteen years. Dante excused himself for a minute so he could be alone, in that time Aphmau walked away from the couple since Kawaii~Chan said that she should talk to the other people in the village and not just them. 

Aphmau and Kitten caught up with Belladonna and Zoey, asking them about their marriage, how everything has been. Aphmau wanted to ask them about the whole timeline thing but she really thought that if she did her brain would explode. She laughed at Kenmur trying to teach Levin, Malachi, and Kyle what he called ‘the wave’ which she assumed was him just lying down on the floor trying to get up like an old man. Donna trying to teach Logan how to dance made Katelyn almost break the serious character that she already fronted because of how bad Logan was dancing, the stranger was nowhere to be seen, and Emmalyn was out playing with either Rollo or Lello Aphmau couldn’t remember. 

It wasn’t until towards the middle of the party when things started going wrong. First Rollo ran into the open gates of the settlement, panting and in a panicked state. When Dante went over to the kid to see what was wrong everyone learned that Nekoette~Tan had been taken by a group of bandits while playing hide’n’seek. Dante ran into the forest without hesitation and ignoring the protest of Aphmau and Kawaii~Chan, Aphmau quickly ran after the man with only a small dagger to her name. 

They ran through the village, out the old gates, into the deep forest, and past the empty portal that brought Aphmau back from the Irene dimension. Dante somehow knew where the bandits were, giving Aphmau the idea that there was a reason they had a wall around the settlement. Aphmau trailed behind since she was in no condition to fight as Dante stormed towards a small campsite filled with bandits. 

Dante whipped out his ruby red katanas and slit a man’s throat with them, it looked like he snapped his neck. All the campers gasped in shock and Nekoette~Tan, who was tied up and had a cloth gag around her mouth, screamed in fear. Dante was about to go for another bandit when an arrow went through his chest, he screamed out in agony as he fell to the ground, clutching the area around the arrow hole. Aphmau gasped and went to find the archer who shot Dante, at the same time another bandit took out their sword and was ready to execute Dante right in front of his daughter until the stranger appeared right next to the bandit, blocking their sword with his big purple one. The stranger smirked before whipping his sword back, making the bandit drop his sword, and cutting the bandit’s face open. Aphmau found the bandit and threw her dagger at him, luckily the hilt of the dagger only hit it not the pointy end of the dagger but the bandit was knocked out. The rest of the bandits that were there ran away from the campsite deeper into the woods but Aphmau and the stranger were too occupied with Nekoette~Tan and Dante to care. 

The stranger quickly untied Nekoette~Tan and handed her to Aphmau as he picked up the bleeding guard. They ran back towards the settlement, the stranger hadn’t taken the arrow out yet but had wrapped a piece of his pants around the hole so he could block off the blood from flowing out. Aphmau comforted the little meif’wa girl as they ran, she was screaming and crying for her daddy while Aphmau and the man could do nothing.

When they got back to the settlement they sort of ruined the party, they laid Dante out on one of the tables, and Donna and Logan got ready to start treating the man. Everyone else got Donna and Logan their items to fix Dante but also just stared in horror as Nekoette~Tan’s screams and Dante’s moaning filled the air. Kawaii~Chan stood by their husband and held his hand as Logan cut the arrowhead from Dante’s chest and then pulling the other half of the arrow from his back, filing the area with a deep guttural scream of pain. Part of the arrow has broken in Dante’s body and from what Donna could see with this strange eyeball looking this that she was holding, the wooden stick was too close to any organs for them to successfully take it out without seriously injuring Dante. 

“Donna~Samma you  _ have _ to do something, please!” Kawaii~Chan cried. 

Dante shook his head, he lazily placed his hand on Kawaii~Chan's chest “Yelling… isn’t going to help… anata.” Dante whispered.

Tears fell from Kawaii~Chan’s eyes as they bit their lip “Anata…”

The guard turned his head towards Aphmau “Aph…” 

Aphmau moved towards the man, bringing her hand to the man’s chest, near the wound. “Everything is going to be okay, you know that right?” 

Dante let out a small laugh “Thank you… for the… the amulet.” He smiled softly “Thank you for… for… for bringing him back… back to me.” 

Tears fell from Aphmau’s eyes and her hand slithered towards Dante’s wounds, her hands were like they were filled with pins and needles and her veins turned a bright light purple. The light went to the tips of her fingers and transferred to Dante’s wound, unbeknownst to Aphmau Dante’s wound was closing up and the wooden stick piece was slowly disappearing into nothing but air. Dante’s breathing was getting back to normal and his eyes were opening up, life was coming back to his face. 

Aphmau quickly pulled back when she realized what in the world was happening, not that she didn’t want to help Dante but… she didn’t know  _ what _ was happening. Dante slowly sat up on the table, his eyes were wide with shock. 

“What the…?” Levin said quietly as Aphmau backed up. 

“I don’t feel pain I-I-I… what?” He looked up at Aphmau “What did you do?” 

“I don’t… I don’t-” Aphmau stumbled back “I don’t… know.” She whispered before falling against the table behind her and sliding to the floor. 

“Aphmau!” Laurance called out 

  
  


Aphmau woke up in a daze, her head was pounding like someone was trying to get out and everything was so bright. She was laying down in the cot that she woke up in this morning, no one was around her but Zoey, Kitten, and Belladonna. It was always them wasn’t it, they always seemed to make their way into Aphmau’s life even when she was unconscious, it was like her life revolved around them, without them she would be nothing, without them she wouldn’t be here, she probably wouldn't exist. They always seemed to be  _ right there _ , always watching, always taking care. Aphmau’s heart began pounding as she remembered Dante, what happened to Dante? Was he okay? Had he died? The girls’ attention turned towards the woman who had just woken up, they looked worried and had fear in their eyes. 

They were saying something but it echoed into Aphmau’s mind, their mouths were moving but Aphmau couldn’t hear anything but far echos, was she talking? They were acting like she was talking but she couldn’t tell that she was talking. Was she yelling, was that why they looked so scared? Was she even in her own body, she was looking at her body from a different perspective, from the outside. When her head turned and stared in front of her only then did she hear what the ladies were saying, the echoes were no more and she could hear the fear coming from her own voice as she asked about Dante and cried if he was okay. Only then did she feel the pressure in her head come back, the blood drained from her brain, and her eyes roll back. She passed out again. 

When she woke up for the second time she was still in a daze and her head still hurt but when the ladies started talking to her there was no echo, she didn’t feel as if she was looking at her body instead of being in it. They were asking her how she was, if she was okay, what was going on but all she could think of at the moment was Dante. 

“Where is… where is Dante?” Her body felt strange like it wasn’t hers. 

“Dante is fine, he’s with the others downstairs,” Zoey answered as Belladonna and Kitten sat nervously, checking Aphmau for any bumps or bruising she got from her passing out. They pulled at her eyelids making and looked down her throat, it was like Aphmau was at a doctor's visit.

“What happened?” Aphmau asked as Kitten placed a hand on Aphmau’s forehead and told her sister to get tea and the others. 

Zoey laughed softly, she was holding Aphmau’s hand “We should be asking you that. Dante was almost about to die from blood loss when you somehow healed him to perfect health. You just put your hand near the wound and it went away.” 

“Like a mother’s kiss to a child’s cut knee. It was insane.” Belladonna added, “Dante’s been beating himself over the whole ordeal, they think you’re dead.” 

“What!? No, am I?” Aphmau’s mind was racing. 

Zoey shook her head “No, no, for all I know you are still among the land of the living.” Zoey’s face went serious “Aphmau what did you do to heal Dante?”

“I-I…” She stopped.  _ My powers _ she thought, she had almost completely forgotten about them but they were still in her body, her markings that were engraved all along her body like the tree branch looking one that sprouted from her nose bridge to her hairline. She knew she could make people and things calm down, fall to sleep, give them peace but she didn’t know that she could heal people. She remembered Hayden, how she brought his terrifying corpse back to life after his throat being slit but his ex-head guard Gale, she didn’t know how she could forget. Then at last she remembered the war, things were blurry of course but she remembered her body being so full of power… energy, it was crazy. The spear that she held in her hands to drive through her enemies, her eyes glowing white and her hair floating upwards, her white-colored blood whenever people cut her and how it turned back to red when the power and energy drained from her body. She did have powers but she couldn’t control them, like how she healed Dante, she didn’t know what she was doing, she couldn’t control it.

“My powers.” Aphmau finally answered “Did I tell you guys about the powers that I have? The way I can calm people down, how I brought Hayden back to life… what I did during the war.”

Both the ladies by Aphmau’s side nodded their heads. 

“I remember you telling us about Hayden, and how you’ve always had small powers like things but… I don’t know what happened during the war.” Zoey said. 

“I don’t know either.” Belladonna agreed “I mean like in a sense I do but… just explain it to Zoey.” 

Aphmau nodded and turned her attention back towards the elf lady “During the war I… I got these strange powers, a glowing spear, I could make groups of soldiers fall to their feet and knock themselves out… I felt like… like a god almost.” 

Belladonna choked on her own spit and quickly excused herself from the conversation but not before kissing Zoey on the head, leaving Aphmau and Zoey extremely confused. Belladonna left so quickly that Aphmau didn’t have time to ask questions.

“This is so confusing.” Zoey admitted “I don’t understand, you can calm people down, raise the dead, and completely heal people…. It makes no sense whatsoever.” 

As soon as Zoey went quiet Kitten rose from the staircase holding a silver tea tray and with Laurance, Katelyn, Emmalyn, Kenmur, and the stranger behind her. The stranger didn’t seem to be concerned with Aphmau though, he went over to the edge of the living area and began climbing the branches. Laurance went over and hugged his Lord softly, making sure not to hurt her if there was a possibility, Kitten set the tea tray down to the table across from Aphmau that she had eaten at the night before with everyone she came back with. 

Kitten came over with a cup of tea and handed it to Aphmau, quietly asking her sister-in-law about Belladonna and why she seemed so worried as everyone began talking to Aphmau about what had happened. 

“Aph, what you did for Dante was incredible.” Laurance praised “I’ve never seen such amazing healing magicks.” 

“I do have to agree.” Katelyn said “I mean it’s a little overboard if I’m being honest, you not only healed his inside wounds but you somehow got the wooden stick out of his body and healed his flesh. It’s impressive.” 

“It was like a combination of healing magicks. I have never seen a normal healing magicks user heal  _ everything _ that was wrong with their patenting.” Kenmur added. 

“Yeah, you guys have a point there. Aph I never knew you had magicks… have you been hiding this from us all this time?” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau’s chest seized up, she looked at Kitten to tell her what to do since Zoey had left the living area to go check on her wife. Kitten bit her lip as she looked at the people in front of Aphmau, she nodded softly giving Aphmau the hint that she needed to tell them now. Aphmau sighed and looked back at everyone “I uh… I’ve had these magicks for a while now, I think Emmalyn may be the only one to remember this I’m not sure but… when I left for Bright Port to discuss matters these markings showed up all over my body. After that, I began experiencing things that I would say are things magick users experience.” 

“I remember seeing you with those markings and wondering if I had been seeing things, you didn’t look like that when I first met you.” Laurance said, “Why were you hiding this?” 

Aphmau shrugged “I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t want to alarm anyone if my powers could be dangerous.” 

“Maybe this has something to do with the strange relic thing that she absorbed in the Irene Dimension.” The stranger yelled from the other side of the tree. 

Katelyn clapped her hands and pointed at the stranger “YOU’RE RIGHT!” she called out “She absorbed what I’m assuming was the relic that Zane was trying to get his slimy hands on!” she was acting totally out of character. Aphmau also finally had time to appreciate the beauty that was Katelyn Alarie, her light blue hair intimated the sky above them, her spiky golden nose ring that had dried blood on it shined like the sun, her skin was soft like a cloud. Aphmau’s heart raced every time she made eye contact with the woman, it wasn’t good. 

“What do you mean ‘relic thing’ from the Irene Dimension?” Emmalyn looked as if she had seen a ghost. Kitten stayed silent to avoid any questions on what happened with her in the Irene Dimension. 

“Zane had always been searching for a ‘relic’ and I assume that he found it in the Irene Dimension, he had attacked us shortly after the relic was absorbed into Aphmau’s being so we didn’t get a moment to ‘awe’ over the event,” Katelyn answered. 

“About when Zane fought us, Kitten, what the fuck were you doing?” Laurance asked. 

Kitten’s face went red “Yeah know, when someone is quiet that means they don’t want people talking to them.” 

“You’re right, if you are a defensive magicks user then you are a very special kind. Like Aphmau… are you sure the ‘relic’ didn’t absorb into Kitten as well?” Kenmur asked. 

“Kitten’s always been like this.” Aphmau defended the meif’wa but this resulted in Kitten slapping the woman’s arm and giving her a stare of death. ‘What?’ she mouthed. 

Kitten rolled her eyes and downed the rest of her hot tea “Can I be excused for a moment?” She didn’t wait for an answer before marching her way past Laurance and Katelyn and over to the staircase where she quickly went down. Katelyn looked at the staircase in wonder and followed the meif’wa down it. 

“A relic from Irene’s Dimension… relic… Irene…. Irene’s relic… Irene’s relic from Irene’s Dimension… relic…” Emmalyn muttered nonsense before she gasped loudly “YOU ABSORBED IRENE’S RELIC! You need to tell me everything right now, everyone else leave! I need to study this magnificent woman chosen by Irene!” 

“What!?” Aphmau yelled in shock. 

Kenmur began slowly walking away from the scene and over to the other side of the tree, Laurance kissed Aphmau's hand and whispered to her that he’d make sure that Emmalyn wouldn’t poke and prod her too hard. 

Aphmau understood how Emmalyn didn’t know half the things that happened in the Irene Dimension since she and Kenmur stayed back to soothe the panicked Kitten. She explained to Emmalyn everything that happened, dulling down Kitten’s part of the story so Emmalyn didn’t ask any questions, Aphmau didn’t know how everyone kinda brushed past Kitten’s whole panic attack and cool powers that she had but if it means that Kitten’s secret was safe then she didn’t care. 

Emmalyn inspected Aphmau’s markings to see if she could make them do anything “Do you have any idea what this means?” Emmalyn asked after Aphmau finished explaining. 

Aphmau shook her head “I was kinda hoping you would answer that question.” 

“Oh right, well these are all theories of mine but… I believe you are directly related to Lady Irene. I’m not sure how, but you must be for the relic to react that way to you.” Aphmau stayed quiet for Emmalyn to elaborate more on what she meant “Well from what we’ve seen there are two different types of relics, the ones that are actual historical relics that have survived the earlier times and just things that have magical properties to them, like the Irene relic and the relic that formed when that crystal chunk from the Zonaralian and a piece of Alexis’ amulet formed together to create that brooch. I assume that with things like the Irene relic it’s kinda like inheritance because I mean there were so many different reincarnations of the divine warriors beside Irene so maybe possibly those reincarnations were like… children of the Divine in some way? I’m not exactly sure but it would make sense for the Divine’s relics to be bloodline related like how some children who have powers have those powers because their parents do.” 

“Do you think Zane knew this?” Aphmau asked, “I mean he was trying to get the relic as well, do you think he’s related to Irene as well?” 

Emmalyn shrugged “If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know. This is all a theory of mine so I could be completely wrong and maybe the relic just goes to whoever it wants, guessing that the relic is a sentient being that can  _ choose _ things.” 

“If Irene was around over nine hundred years ago then why am I so special? I mean Levin is a descendant of Irene, I just have powers. I mean for all we know Levin could have the same powers.” Aphmau asked. 

Emmalynn grabbed Aphmau by her shoulders “You. Have. Irene’s. Relic.” She stared into Aphmau’s eyes with intimidation “She’s only told a few people and sadly one person whispered to another but now we know that Irene had a relic that gave her godly powers. She was one of the few people who managed to master more than just one type of magicks, the other people were most likely enthralling witches of the other Divines who are just as powerful as Irene but for some reason, people put Irene to such this high standard maybe because she basically healed the world from all chaos caused by The King but-”

“You’re rambling,” Aphmau said to make Emmalyn shut up, she didn’t want to be rude but she really wasn’t in the mood for so much talking. “Also, doesn't everyone have magick and they can learn it at any time? Why are there so few people who learned many different types of magick?” Aphmau asked. 

“That is a good question!” Belladonna said as she rose up from the staircase “But first I have to ask how are you doing?” she walked over to Aphmau after her quick leave from her a while ago before everyone arrived. 

“I”m fine, Emmalyn is bombarding me with questions and I feel as if I’m going to explode,” Aphmau answered, slightly joking. 

“What?” Emmalyn asked “I thought that it was a ninety-nine percent chance that if a parent has powers then a child has power and most adults today have some type of magicks. You usually discover your magicks around thirty to forty right?” 

Belladonna shook her head “I mean you are right, most of the time if a parent has magicks then has a child that child will inherit magicks but it’s not actually a ninety-nine percent change, it’s actually a fifty percent chance. It’s like a game of heads or tails.” 

“But a book that I read said that in all the villages that he visited almost more than sixty percent of the adults in that village had magicks. I’ve seen multiple scholars praise his works.” Emmalyn defended her case. 

“Who was the book by?” 

“Leon Mark,” Emmalyn answered the Kharagosa. 

“Oh my, I would assume you knew what he really did for that book where he discussed magicks he only went to around ten villages when there are over a million village in Ru’aun along and if he was talking about in general that’s like probably a little over a billion villages that he’s saying have an adult magicks user population of sixty percent when really the true amount would probably be around point four percent,” Belladonna explained. 

“Oh wow.” Emmalyn said, “I totally didn’t know that, wow and to say that I’ve been basing all my theories on his work.” 

“Well, you aren’t exactly wrong.” Belladonna sympathized “There this other book about magicks it’s called  _ The Secret World of Magick users _ where Anthony Eret talks about the history of magicks, the first magicks users, where magicks comes from it’s very interesting. Anthony Eret had a baby girl who had magicks but they and their wife were not magick users-” 

“Do you think one of them cheated?” Aphmau cringed. 

Belladonna laughed “No, no one cheated, I think if they did Anthony wouldn’t put this in their book but because they had a magick user child, who discovered their magicks around the age of four when she kept seeing Anthony’s wife’s dead grandma, they had to raise their child a certain way. Anthony decided to apply this to other children to see if their way of teaching a child how to use their magicks would make other children’s magicks show, their investigation proved that no everyone has the ability to learn magicks because only six percent of the children showed signs of having magicks while the other four percent showed no signs and never showed signs in their life as they grew up.” Belladonna explained. 

“Did they test multiple children on only that small group?” Emmalyn asked. 

“He studied this for over two years if I’m correct.” Belladonna answered, “I’m not all into science and that stuff and investigations I mostly like strategizing but it’s fun to learn these things sometimes.” 

“It really is!” Emmalyn said with excited eyes “So were other scholars able to use Anthony’s findings and do their own investigation because that’s really all that matters.” 

Belladonna nodded her head as she picked up the tea tray “Yeah, over around ten years I think more and more people used Anthony’s techniques and found out if their own children had powers or not or even if  _ they _ had powers or not.”

“Well, the more you know I guess… So does that mean that I’m possibly related to Irene?” Aphmau asked.

“Possibly.” Belladonna answered “But for now I  _ strongly _ advise you to  _ not _ use your magicks at any cost. Because you know, sometimes things aren’t supposed to happen.” Belladonna slightly talked through her teeth as she stared deathly down at Aphmau. 

_ Was Dante suppose to die!? _ Aphmau's mind immediately went to, she didn’t want to say anything but she knew that was what she was meaning. “Yeah okay, I’ll try not to.” 

“Good, now I have to go clean stuff. Rest easy Aphmau.” Belladonna said as she walked away. 

“You too!” Aphmau responded as she got out of the cot she was in, flipping the blanket off of her and throwing her legs to the side. She was still a little woozy but she could walk which was all that mattered to her at the moment. Her body was sore all over and she just wanted to get out of these stupid clothes that she was always in, she wanted to go and ask someone for some new clothes today so she didn’t have to wear this constant reminder of what happened. As she walked slowly, trying to cause as little to no pain as possible, she looked down at the markings in her hands. 

_ Why her _ ? She asked  _ Why was I chosen to carry this burden of Irene’s magicks. _ She didn’t even know if it was true that she carried Irene’s magicks and if so why were the ‘symptoms’ so early? She would’ve expected her marking to come after absorbing the relic but she got them MONTHS before, it was strange to her. Was this the universe’s way of telling her that she was more than just Irene’s relic, she had more magicks than she imagined? A hand on her arm snapped her out of her thoughts, Laurance was standing right next to her with worry on his face. 

“Are you okay?” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau nodded “Yeah just a little… distant with all this stuff.” 

“So I didn’t get everything that she said… she was kinda confusing.” Laurance itched his neck in nervousness. 

Aphmau laughed “It’s fine, she uh… she said that I might have a connection to Lady Irene.” 

Laurance’s eyes went wide “Really!? That’s great!” He pushed Aphmau’s hair behind her ear, his eyes were so soft when they made contact with hers “I always knew you were a goddess.” 

Aphmau slapped the guard's hand away and rolled her eyes “I should’ve known you were going to say that!” Laurance was simply laughing as Aphmau started walking away from the guard “I can’t tell you anything huh?” 

Their conversation was interrupted by the stranger popping in out of nowhere “We need to fix that bandit problem.”

Aphmau and Laurance both jumped when the man spoke unprompted and without a sound before. 

“Dear Irene! Where do you come from!?” Aphmau asked. 

The stranger pointed to the hole in the floor that led to the staircase in the middle of the tree “The staircase but nevermind that, this place has supposedly been dealing with these bandits for years now. They grave robbed a dead wyvern and have been stealing things from the original village.” 

“They stole from Ungrth?” Laurance asked “Holy Irene…” 

“Yes, so we should do something to help them. I mean I don’t know any of them but if they have the confidence to kidnap a poor little girl what else will they do.” The stranger answered. 

“That’s lovely of you but I’m not sure Levin would like that. I mean he does so much for this village and I reassured him just today that I wouldn’t take the Lord position from him. I’m afraid that he’ll think I’m trying to steal it from him by helping with this.” Aphmau said, “I mean I want to help them.” 

“Aph this is something big we can do. Don’t you feel a little helpless since we’ve gotten back I mean… maybe not you but I’ve just been feeling like a dead horse and I want to do something about it.” Laurance said. 

“What do you mean? You aren’t a dead horse.” Aphmau said. 

“I know you may think of me as someone useful but I’ve done nothing-” 

Aphmau cut off Laurance “It’s barely been two days since we came back, of course, you’re going to feel a little useless.” She sighed and looked between the two men before thinking of the village. Maybe _ they could take it back, maybe this could be the start of rebuilding an actual village for Levin to rule over. _ “Yeah, yeah we should do this,” Aphmau said. 

“Yes!” Laurance cheered, getting the attention of Katelyn, Emmalyn, and Kenmur “Aph this is going to be great and we can even surprise Levin with it afterward.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “So what are we going to be doing exactly? The only thing that I can think of that would help reduce the bandit problem is possibly… rebuild the wall?” 

The stranger tilted his head “I was thinking something like killing all the bandits we can find but that’s a better option if you want to be friendly.” 

Laurance and Aphmau stared at the stranger in complete horror. “What is wrong with you?” Aphmau asked, “Like what in the world is wrong with you.” 

The stranger shrugged “I’m not sure but, KATE-LYN!” The stranger yelled at the woman. She snapped her head towards the group and walked over. 

“What is going on?” She asked, “I heard something about dealing with the bandit situation but nothing else.” She said. She had a slight cover of worry over her face when she looked at Aphmau. 

“We’re thinking of rebuilding the wall!” Laurance answered, the excitement was obvious in his voice “Do you wanna help?” 

Katelyn thought for a moment before a lightbulb went off in her eyes and she started digging through the pockets she had in her armor before she pulled out a brown pouch that jingled. “I know that just concrete and wood won’t help so I can go out and find and get stronger materials from them like possible clay to make bricks and whatnot.” 

“What’s that?” Aphmau asked, pointing to the pouch in Katelyn’s hand.

“The money that I got from giving you guys that armor oh so long ago. I never used it because I knew that deep down it belonged to the village.” Katelyn said. 

“How long do you think that’ll take?” Aphmau asked, “We can’t leave this wall in shambles forever.”

“Oh I know, I’m not sure how long it’ll take but hopefully no longer than a week. For now, you guys can possibly use rocks or concrete that’s in the village, I’m sure they have some.” Katelyn answered, shoving the pouch back in her pocket for safekeeping. 

“I found some tree logs in a stack right next to the forest bordering the beach.” The stranger answered, “We can use those as some type of base.” 

Laurance nodded “Okay well I guess we should get going, I’ll see if Kitten, Belladonna, and Zoey want to join since they always want to help with everything.” Laurance joked. 

Aphmau let out a weak laugh “They think it’s like their job.” 

“I mean technically it was their job to help you with your kids,” Laurance said as the group began to walk down the stairs of the treehouse. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “Yeah but it’s been like forever, I don’t see how they have to help with everything.” 

“Sometimes people feel better if they help everyone, like how Mr. man over here doesn’t like to help anyone and that makes him feel better.” Katelyn nudged the stranger. 

“Okay whatever, you’re lucky you can’t see my eyes or I’d totally be giving you death eyes right now.” The stranger threatened. 

“Why do you wear that bandana anyway?” Aphmau asked, she never really took a minute to question why the stranger’s eyes were always covered with a red bandana. Even when he fought Zane he didn’t even take it off. 

The stranger shrugged “It makes me more focused, and I don’t like anyone seeing my face.” 

“I bet you are just so pretty.” Laurance fluttered his eyelashes. 

The entire group laughed. It felt nice to laugh after the seriousness that happened today, even if they had a small party it was quickly ruined which just brought back the stiff nature that swept through the village. 

The group walked into the settlement and split off to go get materials, The stranger and Katelyn offered to go get materials, Laurance would go get the three other ladies that were always with them, and Aphmau told them that she wanted to go check up on Dante and Nekoette~Tan to see if they were okay. No one objected to Aphmau's request. She walked towards the house that Kawaii~Chan and Dante owned as the rest of the group split off, she looked down at the pink and blue flowers littered in the grass at the foot of the house. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer, Kawaii~Chan was the one to quickly answer the knock and opened the door for Aphmau. 

“Oh, Aphmau~Senpai! How are you doing?” Kawaii~Chan asked, inviting Aphmau into the house. 

“I’m good! Still a little woozy if I’m being honest though.” Aphmau answered, she looked around the house, Kawaii~Chan was seemingly the only one there. 

“Oh, Dante~Kun and Nekoette~Tan are upstairs resting. Kawaii~Chan doesn’t care if he’s feeling a hundred percent, they just don’t want to let either of them outside right now. Kawaii~Chan is sincerely grateful to you for saving their loved ones.” Kawaii~Chan responded they held Aphmau’s hand. 

“It wasn’t just me though, my uh… my friend was there as well.” Aphmau didn’t exactly know what the stranger was to her, maybe a friend, maybe an acquaintance, who knew.

“Oh, what’s their name?” Kawaii~Chan asked, letting go of Aphmau’s hand to get back to the food that they were making. 

“Oh, I uh… he doesn't want us to know his name.” Aphmau answered, “Likes to keep his identity a secret.” 

Kawaii~Chan raised an eyebrow at Aphmau’s response “Hm, strange. Well, I’m happy he saved my husband and daughter’s life, now I think they will be very happy to see you.” Kawaii~Chan nodded their head towards the second floor. 

“Oh right!” Aphmau remembered and headed to the second floor which looked to only hold the bedroom part of the house. She went through the only open door in the hallway and found Dante and Nekoette~Tan sitting on the bed playing with what looked like tiny maids before turning into  _ actual _ maids, Aphmau wondered what happened to Kawaii~Chan’s maids and why she snapped at Nekoette~Tan for mentioning it. 

Aphmau knocked on the door getting the attention of the two occupants of the bedroom, Dante motioned for her to come in so she did. She sat down on the bed next to the father and daughter. 

“Aph I seriously cannot thank you enough for saving me and Nekoette~Tan,” Dante said, placing his hand on Aphmau’s. 

Nekoette~Tan piped up “I can’t either! You guys were so cool, what is that guy's name that saved me and daddy?”

“Oh um… he hasn’t really told anyone his name yet, he likes to keep his identity a secret. I just kinda call him the stranger or ‘man’.” Aphmau shrugged. 

“Really?” Dante asked in confusion “I don’t know if I feel totally comfortable with that but… he saved our lives and I’m entirely grateful for that I guess I have to let it slide.” 

“Has this been the first kidnapping here?” Aphmau asked. 

Dante nodded, his mood turned sour “It was on the one day that we allowed ourselves to let go of our guard too. I can’t imagine how stressed Levin must be, he’s been trying to get aid from other villages but since we’re such a small community who can barely defend against the constant barrage of bandits not many people see us as a ‘worthy profit’ to invest in.”

“Maybe things will change,” Aphmau said. 

Dante shrugged “Who knows. For now, we’ll probably just have to increase patrol.” 

Aphmau shrugged and got up from the bed “Well it was nice talking to you, hope Kawaii~Chan ungrounds you soon.” Aphmau joked as she walked out of the room. 

“Me too,” Dante said before Aphmau left.

When Aphmau got outside the couple’s house it looked as if everyone else in the group was done with their ‘mission’ and were heading back into the middle of the settlement as some sort of regrouping to make sure everyone had everything they needed. Katelyn told everyone that all she needed was to pack the common essentials before heading out because she knows where the settlement keeps their horses so the bandits don’t steal them. The stranger handed Aphmau some of the materials they needed to build the base for the rebuilding of the wall before they headed out, Laurance had grabbed Kitten and Belladonna but not Zoey because she was doing things with magick and no one wanted to bother her. 

Katelyn split off from the group halfway into their walk to go get the horse that she needed to begin her journey to whatever village was near which didn’t look like any. 

When they got to the wall they set down all their materials and got to work. In the end, it took them almost four days to fix all the holes in the wall, fix some of the actual whole walls, and get the gate of the wall working like it was supposed to in the first place. The worst part about the whole thing is that it took Katelyn almost a week to come back to the settlement and the entire time everyone was worrying for her and wondering if something had happened to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAA HELLO EVERYONE HOW ARE WE ALL TWITCH CHAT AT TWITCH.TV/BITCH FACE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AKLJSDFLKJASDFJL   
> Sorry uh but yeah I hope you guys liked that chapter and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING ALL THE WAY TILL THE END!!1 I know my chapters are long but that's because I'm writing a book and books have long chapters ALSO I feel like if I don't write enough you guys won't like it so yeah!! <3 Anyway I hope you guys have a nice day, I'm signing out rn my lovelys <3 <3 <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this Chapter!! I'll upload 4 today as well (hopefully) and if I have time I'll either upload 5 or 5+6 later today after school!!   
> I worked really hard on this (like all my other chapters) so I just hope you like it <3!!

Aphmau sat at a table with Emmalyn and Kenmur as they tried to figure out more stuff about relics and Irene. They weren’t getting anything though and it was obviously starting to frustrate Emmalyn. 

The librarian groaned “I’m not finding anything useful that could help us. This is so frustrating not learning anything new in the presence of Lady- Aphmau!” 

Aphmau snickered “Yeah, how dare you, Emmalyn?” She joked. Kenmur rolled his eyes. 

Emmalyn went silent with her eyes wide before she burst out “Oh my Irene, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me I swear I’ll find out what exactly you are or what you absorbed! Please don’t be upset with me!” 

It shocked Aphmau a little to see the woman in such distress. She placed her hand on top of the other’s “Emmalyn it’s okay! I was just joking, it was all for fun!” Aphmau consoled the woman. 

The woman’s chest stopped moving so fast and her breathing was so fast when she realized the words that Aphmau had said “Oh I… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to react that way. It's just Irene means a lot to me and I would never want to see her disappointed in me even if it’s you.” 

“It’s okay, I don’t see Irene the same way you do but if she’s important to you like that I won’t joke around like that,” Aphmau said, a slight tap on her shoulder got her attention turned away from Emmalyn and now towards Malachi. 

“ _ Mom, can we talk? _ ” Malachi asked. 

“Do you want to talk?” Aphmau asked. 

“ _ Yes. _ ” He answered. 

“Oh yeah, what’s up?” Aphmau asked, turning in her chair to focus on Malachi. 

“ _ It’s private, _ ” Malachi said. Aphmau made an ‘o’ face and stood up, excusing herself from Emmalyn and Kenmur. He took her over near Levin and his house, in the past week that Aphmau had been staying here she had learned a good bit of RSL and could understand Malachi a little bit better. 

“ _ Levin is beating himself up over almost losing Dante. _ ” Malachi signed “ _ I feel like you should talk to him. _ ” 

“What do I talk to him about though? I can only say so much to him that it will impact him. I mean, people don’t really listen to their mothers, it's a way of life.” Aphmau asked.

“ _ Lord stuff. _ ” He answered “ _ He’s never had advice from a Lord on how to be a Lord. Tell him how to handle situations like this. _ ” 

It took Aphmau a minute to comprehend everything Malachi said but she got it in the end. She looked over at the house next to her, she looked back at her son and nodded “Yeah okay I can talk to him. I love you.” 

“ _ Thank you, I love you too, _ ” Malachi said before Aphmau walked away and entered the unlocked house. Zoey and Belladonna were sitting on the couch looking frustrated while Zoey read a book. She wasn’t sure why Levin was still upset over the Dante situation, it was a week ago and she would’ve assumed that he’d gotten over it by now but it looked like he hadn't. 

Zoey turned her head and a small smile grew on her face “Hey Aph, how are you?” 

“Hello, Aphmau.” Belladonna greeted “I’m guessing Malachi made you come over here to talk to Levin or something like that.” 

“Yeah.” Aphmau laughed “He’s a little worried for him.” 

“I am as well.” Zoey agreed “I shouldn’t have let him be Lord at such a young age.” 

“Zoey, this was Levin’s choice to become Lord.” Aphmau said, “Even if you did say no I don’t think that would’ve changed anything.” 

“True, well Levin is upstairs probably sulking. I have a strong feeling you can make him feel better.” Zoey said. 

Aphmau nodded and walked up the staircase in front of her that went to the bedroom part of the house. She knocked on the door that was labeled “LEVIN” and waited for the blonde hair and blue-eyed son to answer. 

Levin opened the door and a confused expression washed over his face “Mom?” Levin asked, “What are you doing here?” 

“Malachi asked me to come over here and talk to you, he’s worried,” Aphmau said as she entered Levin’s room and sat at his desk. 

“He shouldn’t worry about me, that just makes me worry about not worrying so no one has to worry about me-” 

“Levin, honey.” Aphmau stopped her son from rambling too much “Can I talk to you about something semi-serious.” 

Levin sat down on his bed “Yeah what’s up?” 

“I want to talk to you about what being a Lord means,” Aphmau told him what she was doing here. 

“Oh.” 

“I want you to ask me any question you have about what being a Lord is like. I just want you to know that I was only a Lord for a little less than two years, I’m new to this stuff as well.” Aphmau said. She didn’t want Levin to feel nervous to ask for help about this type of stuff.

Levin nodded and fidgeted with his hands for a bit before asking his first questions “Is it normal for Lords to go through hard decisions like rationing food and stuff like that?”

Aphmau nodded “Of course, I had to make a lot of hard  _ personal _ decisions as Lord for the better of my people. I can remember the time when I kept telling Garroth I needed to go to the ‘underworld’ so I could save Laurance but in the end, I never went because Garroth persuaded me that I needed to stay alive for Phoenix Drop.” Aphmau answered, “I remember when I had to decide how much taxes would be and how that would affect my villagers and how they would view me, every Lord goes through that.” 

Levin nodded, taking in everything that Aphmau said “It’s nice to know that every Lord goes through that type of stuff.” He looked down at his hands before asking his next questions “Are we allowed to be… sad in front of our citizens?” 

This one made Aphmau hesitant to answer because she didn’t want to sugar coat it but she also didn’t want to scare the poor boy “Sometimes, to the people that we are really close to and sometimes even that’s hard. We need to look strong for our people and I know it sucks but you can’t really show sadness if you want to appear brave, I remember many times when I just wanted to burst out crying in front of people like Zoey, Dale, Garroth, or even Dante but I didn’t because I knew I had to stay strong and make them believe that everything was gonna be okay.” 

Levin nodded “That kinda sucks.” He laughed. 

Aphmau agreed “It’s not amazing to always be strong.” 

“We have to keep smiling for others…. I think this might be the hardest one but do we allow others to care for us as we do them?” Levin asked.

Aphmau nodded “Of course.” She had no hesitation in her answer “You want to do everything on your own but you can’t, you need to ask for help whenever things get too hard. I hung out with my friends a lot because of this, being Lord is an exhausting job and you can make it easier by just hanging out with friends.”

Levin sighed “I wished the Phoenix Alliance still existed… maybe that way we could get help with materials and stuff.” 

“What!?” Aphmau said in shock “Did the Phoenix Alliance disband or something?” 

“Oh, right you don’t know!” Levin called out “So, shortly after you disappeared the Phoenix Alliance was active for a few months however it fell apart because Belladonna was in no shape to lead it. She had to worry about her wife, us, Kitten, you guys, when we came back she was worrying for weeks about something concerning time, I’m not really sure if I’m being honest. She cried to us for weeks and weeks about how disappointed she was that she let something that you created disband, it was the first time anyone had really ever seen her cry besides Zoey who had been with her since forever so everyone was shocked beside her, she was so disappointed in herself and it was terrible to see her like that.” 

“Oh my Irene, that’s terrible.” Aphmau’s heart clenched for Belladonna who seemed like such a strong woman who never showed any real emotion, she wished she never had to go through that. 

“I know right, I wish it was still around so there was a way I could help my people more. I’d toss aside my pride just to make sure everyone here was happy.” Levin said. 

A lightbulb went off in Aphmau’s head as she remembered the wall that she and her gang had built to protect the settlement more and to start rebuilding the original Phoenix Drop. “I need to show you something.” 

“Oh! Surprise!” Levin said excitedly and got up to follow his mother. She led him out the house, out the settlement, through the ruins of Phoenix Drop, and then when they got close to the wall Aphmau told her son to place his hands over his eyes as she took his hand and dragged him the rest of the way. When she stopped in front of the wall she walked away and told him to open his eyes, when he let his hand fall from his eyes it took him a minute to process what he was seeing. When he did realize what he was standing in front of, he gasped loudly as Aphmau stood in front of him with her arms wide and a big smile on her face. 

“We rebuilt it! What do you think?” Aphmau asked, moving closer to her son. 

He began tearing up “You really didn’t need to do this.” 

Aphmau hugged her son “Hey don’t cry, don’t cry. We just wanted to protect the village more, now it’s only temporary I feel like Katelyn should be coming back soon with stronger materials.” 

“You really didn’t have to do this.” He cried into his mother’s shoulder “Thank you so much mom, seriously.” 

“Of course honey, I would do anything to help this village. I still need to show Malachi so we can go back and make him cry as well.” Aphmau joked. 

Levin laughed but his laughter quickly faded as he looked over Aphmau’s shoulder “I think someone’s at the gates.” Levin nodded his head towards the gate. 

Aphmau turned around and saw Katelyn and a woman very similar to the fiery head dark-skinned woman that kissed her one time after turning her back into a human after being a red chicken for so long. Katelyn had new clothes that looked so much more comfortable than anything Aphmau had ever seen her wear and three large burlap bags, the woman next to her had the same thing but her outfit was much more armor-like. 

Aphmau quickly pulled the lever to open the metal gate that blocked the women from the ruins of the village, she ran back to the middle to see the women and the fiery-headed woman slid off her horse and ran to hug attack Aphmau. 

The woman pulled back and put her hands on the sides of Aphmau’s face “Gods I remember that face anywhere, especially with those clothes I made dear Irene do you never change clothes!?” 

Aphmau laughed and put her hands on the woman’s hands “I’m so happy to see you Cadenza!” 

“Are you shocked to see me?” She asked, pulling away and showing herself off in all her glory “I still need to know what the fuck happened to you all those years ago! Where the fuck did you go!” She had a beautiful puffy white undersuit with big black bulky armor pieces that were on her shoulders, hands, chest down to her waist that flared out like a skirt, and down to her legs that covered black boots. There were brown strings tied above her elbows to make sure that nothing was too puffy. 

“It’s such a long story, what I want to know is why are you here?” Aphmau asked the woman. Her hair which resembled fire was in beautiful knots all over her head that were separated into almost trapezoid shapes. 

“Well, Miss. Katelyn over here all the way to New Meteli in search of stronger materials for a wall.” Cadenza motioned behind her with the multiple burlap bags “When I heard that you were back I wanted to go with her immediately and now we are here!” 

“Huh, well do you want us to show you where we live and stuff like that?” Aphmau asked. 

“I would love to!” Cadenza jumped up and down “So where is it?” 

Aphmau, Katelyn, and Levin led Cadenza and her horse all the way down to the settlement, while walking her face was in complete disbelief as she looked upon the ruins of the place she used to call home. Her face only brightened up a little bit when they got to the settlement, to know that everyone was safe and living together, to know that there were still a handful of people living in the village she used to love. 

When she entered the settlements she gasped and halted to a stop, Levin and Aphmau aided Katelyn in getting the burlap bags off the horses and bringing them to a safer area, ignoring Cadenza slightly. She stood still as she watched her adopted brother talk to the little boy that thought of him as a father. 

“Laurance?” She said loud enough for the man to hear. He turned around and his eyes snapped in surprise. 

“Cadenza? Cadenza!” He ran towards his sister and hugged her tightly, almost knocking the pair over. Two cried into each other’s shoulders as they fell to the ground to hold each other tighter. 

She held her brother’s face as more tears streamed down his face “Gods you don’t look different.” She laughed as she caressed Laurance’s face. 

“You look  _ so _ different.” He tapped the shoulder armor piece. 

“I mean I kinda had to if I wanted to be Lord of Meteli.” Cadenza informed as she sat up. 

“Lord of Meteli!?” Laurance yelled loudly, sitting up to look at his sister better “No way! You are not!” He lightly slapped his sister's shoulder. 

Cadenza laughed “Yeah! Didn’t expect that to happen right? Especially with me running away from home and all but uh… Laurance you… you know what that means right?” 

Laurance furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before they softened and more tears fell down his face “Hayden’s… he’s gone?” 

Cadenza nodded “It was peaceful though, no foul play was detected and he passed in his sleep.” 

A hand went to his mouth as he remembered all the moments he had with Hayden even if that wasn’t even his dad “I… I can’t believe that. Oh dear Irene I can’t believe that, he made so many people happy.” 

“He did, he was so nice to you and me, caring for us even if he didn’t adopt you.” Her face softened at the sight of the distressed Laurance “He’s in a good place now though” 

Laurance nodded and wiped his tears. He looked into his sister’s eyes “I missed you so much, it’s stupid how much I’ve missed you and I wasn’t even gone for long.” 

“Not gone for long?” She repeated in confusion “What in the world do you mean? You disappeared for fifteen years and now you're saying that you weren’t gone for long!?”

“Well, I guess Aphmau hasn’t explained it to you yet. I wouldn’t blame her, she probably thought you looked like a trash can with that armor.” 

She gasped and punched her brother in the arm, knocking him back as he rubbed his arm in pain where she had hit him “Same old Laurance, huh!” She quickly stood in a huff, Laurance struggling to get up with the pain in his arm. Laurance rolled his eyes and followed Cadenza as they began to bicker with each other, she went over to Aphmau who was talking to Levin and Malachi about what she wanted to do with the wall which Malachi was excited to hear about. 

Aphmau turned her head “Oh wow looks like you too became acquainted.” Aphmau laughed. 

Cadenza rolled her eyes “He called me a trash can because of my armor.” 

Malachi snorted which made Levin quickly slap his brother. Aphmau smiled at Cadenza and Laurance “I’m glad you guys are getting together nicely.” 

“Yeah I’m glad too, now you need to tell me what happened during those fifteen years.” Cadenza demanded. 

“Oh right, yeah let’s go inside so we can get comfortable.” Aphmau pointed to Levin and Malachi’s house. 

Cadenza sat on the couch in disbelief, Aphmau had finished explaining everything that had happened to Aphmau and her group for the fifteen-year time period. Everyone left the girls alone to talk about what had happened, they figured that since they were so close it was better to leave them alone, also Laurance wanted to talk to Dante about something and everyone else had to go see what they wanted to do with the wall.

“That is freaky like that is insane!” Cadenza finally said after long awkward silence “So since like a minute there is a year here, if you get Garroth back this year then He’ll barely have any time to get hurt by Zane.” 

“Huh, I never really thought about that. Well, now that we’re done with my story I want to know what you’ve been doing these past few years.” Aphmau said. 

Cadenza giggled “Well, lots actually. The people of Meteli stayed in Phoenix drop for I think two years before most of us took up the offer to go to Scaleswind since our old village yeah know… burned to the ground. Afraid that Meteli was about to become a myth from the lack of population I told my father that we should take action and find a new place to settle, that’s where we found New Meteli! Once we settled we grew lots, it was the biggest population boom Meteli has ever seen, then after a few years Hayden passed away and I became the new Lord of Meteli, Sterling is still the head guard of Meteli but now under my rule, also I found out I’m a lesbian.” 

“Oh wow, that’s hm… a lot of news,” Aphmau said. 

Cadenza laughed “Yeah I know right! I would’ve gladly helped Levin and Malachi at any point but I guess we were too far north for them to reach us without the risk of the settlement being in danger.” 

“Well you’re here right now and just gave us our building blocks to taking back Phoenix Drop and that means everything.” Aphmau comforted the woman. 

“Yeah, that’s true…. Oh! You must be wondering what happened to Cookie, well basically what happened was after you disappeared I took her in and she got to live such a long and beautiful life before passing away in her sleep like my father. She had a beautiful litter of puppies with them showing a lot like the father who was a husky. I gave away most of the litter but kept one boy and named him Crumb.” 

Aphmau’s mouth was agape “I thought they had all died oh my Irene! That’s amazing, do you know where the others are?” 

Cadenza nodded “Thorgi, Puma, Jiggy, and Phoenix are all with Kiki last I heard. She is in Scaleswind with her daughter Leona. Now I’ve talked your ear off enough I-” 

Cadenza was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Dante walked through into the house, he stopped when he spotted Cadenza and a soft smile grew on his face “Cadenza, wow. How have you been.” 

“I’ve been great?” Cadenza was facing the guard “You don’t look too bad yourself.” 

Dante rolled his eyes “You know you’re lying, who knew being a father would take so much out of you.” 

“Oh yeah, Aphmau told me about that! I’m so ready to see your little girl and play with her hair, I bet she’s just such a cutie!” 

Dante laughed “Have you heard anything from Nicole?” 

Cadenza shook her head “I haven’t talked to her in years, it’s funny, I thought you and Nicole would’ve-” 

Dante shook his head “I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention Nicole and I like that.” 

“Oh! Oh okay yeah, that’s cool, cool, cool. Uh, well I should get going and punch Laurance and fuck him up and then play with your little girl!” Cadenza jumped over the couch and quickly left the house leaving Dante and Aphmau in the awkward air. 

“Cadenza’s as energetic as ever.” Dante pointed out. 

Aphmau laughed “I know right, god she barely looks any different. Did Levin tell me what we did by the way?” 

Dante nodded “They actually took me with them to see it, Malachi cried like a baby it was so sweet. Thank you so much really.”

Aphmau nodded and bit her lip “I think I want to get the Phoenix Alliance back together.” 

Dante stood still and froze while he fully processed what Aphmau just said “Holy shit, are you being serious right now?” 

Aphmau nodded “I think it’s the best thing and I really want this to happen.” 

“Well you shouldn’t be telling me, you really should be telling Belladonna,” Dante said, everything was in a rush to Aphmau and she thought she was talking fast. 

“Belladonna? OH! Do you think she’ll accept and want to be the leader of the alliance again?” She asked.

“I mean there is only one way we can find out, I think she’s outside,” Dante said. 

Aphmau quickly got off the couch and followed Dante quickly as he led her to Belladonna who was currently talking to Cadenza and greeting her to the settlement. Aphmau’s heart was beating a million times a second. Aphmau tapped on her friend’s shoulder and took a quick breather before she started talking again. 

“What’s up you look like you’re about to have a heart attack,” Belladonna said.

Aphmau took a deep breath “Would you be willing to be the leader of the Phoenix Alliance again.” 

Belladonna’s eyes widened “Excuse me? What?” 

“I want the Phoenix Alliance back but I won’t do it if you don’t want to do it, you are seriously the only one I trust with this job.” Determination was embedded in Aphmau’s eyes, her hands were softly grabbing onto the Kharagosa’s. 

“It’s been… it’s been so long since I did anything like that I… I’m not sure.” She looked towards anyone in reassurance, telling her what to do, she didn’t exactly know. 

“You still have all those strategies flying around in your head?” Aphmau asked. 

Belladonna nodded “They never stopped.” 

“So are you willing to lead this alliance?” Aphmau asked one more time. 

Belladonna took a deep shaky breath, her eyes were teary and if she didn’t wipe them now she would’ve burst into tears “Yes, yes I’ll be the stupid leader of this alliance.” She laughed and Aphmau started cheering and clapping her hands. 

“Wait we’re bringing back the Phoenix Alliance?” Laurance asked, he appeared behind Aphmau “It disbanded?” 

Belladonna nodded “Yeah, it was too much for me to handle it with my entire family being gone. Aphmau, do you want to have a meeting on this?” 

“Right now? Uh yeah, I think that would be great.” Aphmau answered “Gods, am I vibrating? I feel like I’m vibrating.” 

Dante placed his hand on the woman’s shoulder and shook his head “Nope, but I suggest that we plan what we’re going to say at this meeting before we actually have it. Belladonna, I assume you are going to do most of the talking so you’re going to have to figure out what in the world you’re going to say.” 

“Hold up, what is happening?” Cadenza asked, completely and utterly confused about the whole situation with everything going so fast. 

“We’re bringing back the Phoenix Alliance with Belladonna as our leader once again,” Laurance said in the simplest way possible. 

“Oh wow, that’s a big deal. How are you guys even going to do that?” Cadenza asked. 

“That’s what we’re going to have to figure out, also where do you want to have this meeting and who are we having it with?” Belladonna asked Aphmau. 

“Well I assume may be either in the tree or just down here and I’m thinking, Dante, Kitten and Zoey, Malachi and Levin, and everyone I came back with unless we want to include everyone but I don’t think we have to,” Aphmau answered. 

“I think it would be pretty useless to include everyone, not that everyone isn’t important but we can tell like the ‘important’ people first and then tell people like Donna or Kawaii~Chan what we’re going just casually I bet,” Belladonna said. 

Dante nodded “Well I’ll start setting that up, I’ll probably just do it in the tree so we can get away from anything, you two start talking about the meeting and such.” Dante said as he hopped on his feet and ran away from the ladies and Laurance. 

Laurance nodded “Well,” He grabbed his sister’s hand “I guess I’ll take her, and then we can regroup when the meeting starts.” He dragged Cadenza away from the ladies to let them start throwing out ideas on how they can rebuild the Phoenix Alliance.

After around twenty minutes of idea storming and thinking of what she wanted to do to rebuild the alliance, Belladonna finally wanted to tell it in front of everyone. Aphmau and she went up to the tree where everyone else was and prepared to present what they wanted to say.

Belladonna stood in front of her friends, some strangers, and some family. She took a deep breath before presenting her idea “I recently had a conversation with Aphmau and… I want to reform the Phoenix Alliance, to make it bigger and stronger than it ever was before. Now that I am once again the leader of the Phoenix Alliance I feel like my leadership skills can come in handy, not just for one village, but for all of them. Leading an alliance requires more than I could ever imagine, I didn’t get the chance to lead the alliance as much as I wanted to before I decided to renounce my position, unofficially might I add. I feel guilty that the first and last thing this alliance ever did was help me and I could never return the favor, I feel selfish and I’m going to change it.” She took a somewhat shaky breath “ _ We _ plan on traveling the region and beyond to make peace between villages and bring them together united even if they don’t join our alliance they’ll know that someone out there can help them. I don’t want anyone feeling left out of this like this settlement sadly was. This journey will be a long one but it will also serve as a triple purpose, I want to reform the alliance, get Aphmau to learn more about Irene and who she may or may not be, and… see faces that we haven’t seen in a while. Are you with me?” 

“Of course.” 

“Obviously.” 

“Yes! I’m so happy about this honey!” 

“ _ I think Levin speaks for all of us on this matter. This is amazing. _ ” Malachi signed. 

“I hope to the gods above that I don’t sound rude but… what qualifies you to be a leader of this alliance?” Cadenza asked. 

“I was thinking the same thing.” Katelyn agreed “I mean why would you renounce your positions as the leader and then just take it back up again.” 

Belladonna huffed “I lived in Phoenix Drop for four years after the war trying to get the village to the place it used to be and giving aid to the other villages that were affected but with the population being so low and my entire family missing I couldn’t deal with all that stress. When I left Phoenix Drop I ‘renounced’ my position as the alliance leader, leaving to go find my wife and the kids that I take care of, when we came back for two years then left again, and then came back after two years I took care of this new settlement for around six years and taught Levin most of the ropes of being Lord.” 

“Oh, dear Irene you are way more than qualified.” Cadenza said in shock. 

“I'm sorry for breathing your air dear god,” Katelyn said.

“So Cadenza, are you willing to join the alliance?” Aphmau asked, her smile beaming brightly. 

“Well of…” She gasped “Oh no! Oh, I feel so bad!” 

“What?” Laurance asked, “What’s wrong?” 

Cadenza sighed in regret “I would absolutely love to join the Phoenix Alliance but sadly I have a council who help me decide on things for my village. While I can make decisions on my own I still need to see if these decisions will be good for my people or not.” 

“That’s understandable.” Laurance said, “What if the first place we travel to is Meteli so we can be there when your council tells us to fuck off.” 

Kitten snorted “I guess we need to wake up bright and early so we can be grumpy and tell them to fuck off as well.” 

Katelyn groaned “I do not want to do another week-long trip.” 

“It’s really going to be a week to get there?” Kitten asked, “I thought you just had bad luck.” 

“Well it didn’t take me a week to get there because then it would’ve been a two-week-long trip, it really took my three days to get there and then four-ish days to get back because I took an extra day to sleep,” Katelyn explained. 

“So I guess it’s going to just take three days to get there because we’re… we’re not coming back here for a while,” Aphmau said sadly. 

“ _ Really? _ ” Malachi signed “ _ You just got here though. _ ” 

“What? You’ve only been here a week and you’re already leaving? That’s not fair.” Levin said. 

“I know, I know.” Aphmau went over to her boys “But if I want to help Phoenix Drop we have to do this, like Belladonna said, this trip is going to be a long one and we won’t be coming back for a while.” Aphmau explained that she had her hands on both their shoulders.

“ _ We’ll miss you _ .” Malachi signed. 

“I’ll miss you guys too but I won’t be gone  _ gone _ , I’ll be helping from afar if you need it. Maybe if we find more stuff than we need we can send it to you.” Aphmau said. 

“What? Oh no, you seriously don’t need to do that, please just send the minimal amount of extra stuff you find.” Levin quickly said. 

Aphmau sighed “If you tell us to stop we will, like I said I’ll be just helping from afar, I expect you guys to do most of the working.” 

Levin and Malachi nodded “ _ Let’s not get sentimental now, we need to save that for tomorrow. _ ” Malach signed as he realized the sad atmosphere in the room. 

“I do need to ask, will it be okay if we stop by old Meteli before we start our journey to New Meteli? I would like to visit that place as I haven’t in a while.” Cadenza asked. 

“Oh! I would love to do that, I wonder what it’s turned into.” Laurance agreed. 

“So we’re leaving in the morning?” The stranger asked “First to old Meteli, then to New Meteli, then what? What’s our plan after that?” 

“We go wherever we want.” Belladonna answered, “Now I suggest that everyone get rest and we can tell everyone else in the morning, if you are going to leave with us I suggest that you figure that out now so we don’t have to do any last-minute packing.” Everyone took that as a sign to start mingling among themselves while also getting ready for the trip ahead and bed, Aphmau was mostly staring at the beautiful sight that was Belladonna and Zoey as she embraced each other and held onto each other’s forearms while talking to each other so softly. She had never seen two people who were madly in love with each other that it was soft and adorable every time you looked, it was like a warm lap was shining over them every time they talked or hung onto each other. Aphmau wondered what it was like to love someone as much as they did, to be so in love that you can’t help but melt when you touch your partner. 

Aphmau's love thoughts were interrupted by Laurance who was smiling his stupid cassanova smile that made Aphmau want to punch his arm and then hug him “Hi.” She said. 

“Sup, Katelyn sadly took my sister away from me so I went to the only other lady I knew.” He joked. 

Aphmau laughed and looked over Laurence's shoulder, Katelyn was leaning against the tree while talking to Cadenza, they looked like total opposites; it was insane. Katelyn had icy blue hair, pale snowy skin, and a harsh face while Cadenza had hair that looked like it was on fire the entire time, dark skin literally resembling the midnight sky, and a soft dainty face that made her always look like a princess even if she was wearing harsh armor. Katelyn looked like she was really enjoying herself for the first time while talking to Cadenza, it warmed Aphmau’s heart. 

“So how are you doing?” Laurance asked, “How’s everything going?” 

“Well, I’m going to miss Levin and Malachi and everyone else here but… how are you? You always ask me how I’m doing and after the whole Irene Dimension I feel bad for not really asking those questions.” Aphmau answered. 

“Hey look, it’s okay. If I’m being totally honest I’m a little scared, I think we’ll be fine in the long run but… what if this whole plan backfires and we just end up nowhere? What if while we were gone O’Khasis took control of everything and we have to have a war all over again because we won’t submit to them. It’s just a lot to think about and I think I’m psyching myself out.” Laurance explained. 

“I mean Cadenza is considering joining us so maybe that means that not every village is ruled by O’Khasis and with the whole O’Khasis ordeal, if Zane was missing for fifteen years along with their prized son that they just found out was alive then maybe O’Khasis is just in ruins,” Aphmau said. 

“Possibly, it’s still a scary thing to think about.” Laurance scratched his neck. 

“True… Hey, while I was talking to Cadenza she mentioned something about how since only a minute in the Irene Dimension is a year here then if we get Garroth back in this year Zane might not have enough time to injure or harm Garroth.” Aphmau mentioned.

“And?” 

“I was thinking that maybe we uh… we could try and… and get him back by opening the portal.” Aphmau was whispering to make sure no one else heard her. 

“Open the portal?” Laurance whispered in shock “Are you serious? Are you even confident enough in your powers?” 

Aphmau shrugged “I’m not totally confident but I want to try.” 

Laurance thought for a moment before smiling softly “Then let’s go ahead, I’ll be with you the entire way.” 

Aphmau smiled brightly, took Laurance’s hand, and set off for the portal. It took them a while to find the portal since the forest was so stupidly dense and everything was starting to get dark since it was already around seven or eight at night. They were surprised that no one set off to follow them since there weren’t a lot of people in the treehouse and someone ought to notice that they were missing but the entire time that they walked through the forest they heard no extra footsteps which both worried them and made them happy. When they finally got to the portal the air was still, the forest was quiet for once, and the atmosphere made Aphmau’s spine shiver. Goosebumps were all along Aphmau’s body as she walked around the portal. 

“So what do we do?” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau shrugged “Maybe we just walked through it?” She answered as she walked through the empty portal, her eyes squeezed shut. Nothing happened. “Maybe we walk back through it?” she said more quietly as she did the same thing but just backward.

“Please?” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and shrugged “It wouldn’t hurt, please open?” 

Nothing happened. 

Aphmau sighed “What if I just concentrate? Like complete silence and just think really hard about the portal opening?” Aphmau asked. 

Laurance nodded “Yeah that could work, I’ll just be here if anything goes wrong.” Laurance patted Aphmau’s back. 

Aphmau nodded and clasped her hands together, she went quiet as she concentrated really hard on opening the portal in front of her. She imagined opening doors, opening cellar doors, seeing Garroth turn around and smile at Aphmau while Zane lay dead on the floor. She remembered all the nice and fun times she had with Garroth back in Phoenix Drop, back before she was thrown into the future, back before he went quiet and pretended to be sick, back when he was her friend, her right-hand guard, her Garroth. A tingling feeling in her hands made her open her eyes, the portal was sparkling like it had glitter all over it and was making a soft humming sound. Aphmau gasped and started hitting Laurance’s shoulder out of excitement. 

“Laurance! Laurence! Do you think it’s opening?” Aphmau asked. 

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Laurance responded. 

Aphmau slowly inched herself forward towards the portal, reaching her hand out as she got closer. Strong intense energy was coming from the portal. It made Aphmau’s stomach sick, her markings were glowing purple and she could feel the energy throughout her body, it was amazing. When she was about to put her hand through the portal she flew back and had a seething pain all over her face and the right side of her body, the pain was so intense that she completely passed out from it and laid on the grass with Laurance calling out to her. 

Aphmau woke up with Emmalyn and Belladonna yelling in her face. Katelyn and Kitten were trying to calm Zoey down in the background but their voices were muffled and Aphmau couldn’t hear them clearing, she could only hear the loud voices of Emmalyn and Belladonna and her heart pounding against her head. When she looked down at the right side of her body where all the pain was there were scars all along her body, she could see it clearly since she was only in a sports bra and sweatpants. The skin was lumpy and rigid, it looked molted and was pink, her skin looked like it was paused in the middle of melting itself. Her markings had melted into the skin instead of looking like separate things, they moved up and down her skin, and in some places, it looked as if lightning had struck her. 

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT KIND OF DANGER YOU COULD HAVE BEEN IN!?” Emmalyn yelled at Aphmau. 

“WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU ABOUT MESSING WITH DIMENSIONS!?” Belladonna yelled into Aphmau’s right ear. 

“LADY IRENE MIGHT’VE BEEN GOD-LIKE BUT EVEN GODS CAN DIE! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR POWER AND YOU’RE ALREADY TRYING TO OPEN UP DIMENSIONAL PORTALS!?” Emmalyn’s yelling was higher pitched and was giving Aphmau more of a headache than Belladonna was. Aphmau couldn’t even get a word out before one of the ladies was yelling again.

“THE REALM BARRIER IS SO DANGEROUS EVEN FOR A GODDESS!” Belladonna yelled before Aphmau shot up. 

“Will you guys shut the fuck up!?” She screamed, breathing heavily with her heart beating rapidly “Will you guys shut up!” 

“Aphmau just because you have Irene’s relic doesn’t mean that you can start messing with dimensions and things like that.” Belladonna scolded.

“I get it! It was stupid! You guys don’t have to scream into my ears though because of it! What the fuck is wrong with you people?” Aphmau hissed as she wobbled up “I don’t give a shit about anything right now okay? I’m not in the mood to be screamed at, I’m taking a breather.” 

“Aphmau you are so lucky that I thought of pouring the water from Irene’s statue onto your scars, that purple shit that is no longer on your body could’ve killed you. I get it, it sucks to not have something in your head work out but-” Belladonna was interrupted by Aphmau.

“Why the fuck were you yelling at me though? There was no reason for that.” Aphmau had never cursed so much in one day, she especially didn’t expect to be cursing at Belladonna of all people. 

“Because we were worried for you Aph, we thought that you died. I’ve read about people being torn limb from limb trying to open dimensional portals and rifts like that.” Emmalyn explained. 

“I’ve seen people being torn limb from limb because they tried to open portals like that,” Belladonna added. 

Aphmau sighed, maybe all the yelling was making her angry, or maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t open the portal, maybe she was just in a bad mood for no reason… she didn’t know. She pursed her lips and left Belladonna and Emmalyn without another word, ignoring Kitten, Katelyn, and Zoey completely. She just wanted to blow some steam off before going to bed and waking up in the morning to head off to New Meteli and the very long journey ahead of her. 

Cadenza exited the treehouse to find her brother standing outside rocking on his feet “Laurance?” Cadenza asked as she stood next to him. 

Laurance snapped out his daze and looked at his sister “Yeah? What’s up?” 

“Are you and… are you and Aphmau a  _ thing _ ?” She asked, twisting her middle and index finger together. 

“What!? No, why would you ask that? Did she say anything?” Laurance joked, nudging his shoulder against the woman. 

Cadenza rolled her eyes and pushed the man-child off of her. “You’ve been there for her since forever, even now. From the way that Emmalyn and Belladonna were yelling to that poor woman about how dangerous that ‘realm barrier’ thing is you could’ve been hurt.” 

“I’m her guard, I’m always there to protect her.” Laurance explained, “I’m always there with her.” 

“She’s no longer a lord though?” 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

“Laurance. You need to stop playing this nice guy route with her, you  _ love _ her and she’s known about it since forever! Why hasn’t she given you a chance?” Cadenza asked, “You’ve made her smile in her darkest of moments, it’s not fair that she’s trying so hard to save Garroth and wouldn’t do the same for you and you sacrificed yourself in the underworld.” 

“Excuse me?” A voice hissed behind the siblings. 

Cadenza whipped around and her heart dropped. Aphmau was standing at the entrance of the treehouse looking absolutely shocked, Cadenza felt Laurance’s hand on her arm in protection. 

“Aphmau, how much… how much did you hear?” Cadenza asked.

“Enough to know that you don’t know jack-shit! You don’t know  _ anything _ I went through to try and save Laurance, I cried day and night worrying about him, I pleaded to Garroth for so long to let me go to Hell to try and save him but  _ I _ had to be there for my village  _ I _ had to protect my village and make sure they were eating. You don’t know how much I cried when I barely even KNEW HIM!” Aphmau screamed, moving closer and closer to Cadenza. 

“Aphmau I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it as anything bad-” Cadenza almost tripped over a rock that was behind her as she moved backward. 

“I’m trying my hardest to get Garroth back because I am  _ not _ doing that again! I am  _ not _ crying and crying till I vomit over Garroth because he’s going to be with me, he’s going to be here! It’s not my fault Laurance sacrificed himself and I wished he didn’t so I wouldn’t have to worry about  _ anything _ that has happened in my life after that!” Tears were flying out of Aphmau’s eyes and through the blurriness of her sight she could see that Laurance was holding back tears, maybe because he too missed Garroth so much it hurt or that he just hear for the first time that Aphmau wished she was dead so she didn’t have to deal with all this shit that happened to her.

“Aph, stop.” Laurance’s voice broke in the middle of his demand as she pushed Aphmau back slightly, his cheeks were red and his nose was getting puffy. 

“Aphmau I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Cadenza pleaded, she didn’t want Aphmau to hate her especially after just meeting again after fifteen years. Cadenza could feel tears start coming out of her eyes as she stared at Laurance as his back faced the hysterical Aphmau and his shoulders started softly shaking as soft whimper noises came from him. A pit in Cadenza’s stomach filled with guilt only got bigger as the two began crying in each other’s arms, what was she thinking, talking about that stuff without really knowing 

“Do you think that because we missed fifteen years we had to carry fifteen years of baggage?” Laurance asked.

Aphmau softly laughed through her tears “Probably, I don’t think I’ve cried this much in one week.” 

“Me neither.” Laurance laughed. 

Cadenza wiped her tears quickly and left the two alone to do what they wanted,  _ Why was I so stupid? I didn’t mean to be rude, I was just speaking my opinion? Maybe I shouldn’t speak my opinion anymore, what if I listened to Gale more? Maybe Gale was right though, his racist sexist self… maybe he was right. _ Cadenza thought as she walked away from her brother and best friend, after fifteen years of straight missing them both you’ve already made them hate you after what? A few hours of the meeting you again?

In the morning Aphmau got up earlier than everyone else, well earlier than everyone else  _ excluding _ the stranger who seemed to never sleep even in the middle of the night when Aphmau went to go get water. She got some new clothes from Donna and Logan and decided to try them on, it was simple brown high waisted pants with a white button-down shirt with pieces of leather that could be wrapped around Aphmau’s arms and legs for more protection which Aphmau obviously did, she also wore some brown boots that Malachi had given her as a gift. She even buckled a leather sheath around her waist and placed her sword inside the Dante had given her, he said that he always kept the sword in case she ever came back and since she was now back he had gifted it to her. She was surprised the sword was in such good condition but Dante had informed her that he made sure to take care of it every day and make sure that it never rusted or bent. She made sure to pack all of her things last night after all the fighting so she quickly made sure that she herself was packed and everyone else, she decided to bring along a book with RSL in it because what else could she do on the trip besides learning more RSL. She learned quickly after last night that almost her entire right side of her body was like her arm, her face was surprisingly the least damaged but it still had the lumpy lighting looking scars coming up from the next going up into her hairline. After making sure that everyone was packed she made her way down the treehouse with her bags and went to go find a horse that she would saddle up and use while on their trip. Dante informed that they didn’t have enough horses for all of them to use so even though there were going to be nine people coming along with them they could only get two horses, they technically had three because of Cadenza’s horse and if they didn’t push the horses too hard they could fit two people on each other if they wanted to so that just left three people to walk behind them. Once everyone got ready they met up at the Phoenix Drop gates for a final goodbye. 

Aphmau hugged Malachi and Levin one last time before pulling away “Everything is going to be okay I promise you, okay?” Aphmau told the boys. 

“ _ I know _ .” Malachi signed as he wiped his tears. 

“It’s weird seeing you leave like this, usually we’re the ones that are supposed to be leaving for long trips.” Levin joked. 

Aphmau laughed and rolled her eyes “I’m going to miss you guys a lot, it was nice being with my sons again.” 

It was nice seeing my mom again after fifteen years.” Levin said. 

“ _ I hope you have the safest and best trip in the world trying to get the Phoenix Alliance back _ .” Aphmau didn’t know a lot of what Malachi said but she saw the word ‘safe’ and ‘best’ so she assumed he was talking about the trip. 

“Well, I hope-” 

“OW!” The strange groaned. Aphmau turned her attention to the man, he had his hands on his head and a red apple at his feet with Nekoette~Tan standing in front of him in shock. Everyone kinda froze as they watched the stranger stand up straight, pick up the apple, all while radiating anger.

“I am  _ so _ sorry!” Nekoette~Tan apologized with fear in her voice “I didn’t mean to hit you at all!!”

The stranger said nothing as he crouched down to get equal height to the little girl. He bit into the apple and smiled “Nice throw kid.” He said before ruffling up the little girl’s hair and walking away. 

“What just… happened?” Levin asked as Dante rushed over to his daughter to see what in the world just happened. 

“Well uh… we uh… I hope that you guys have a nice time rebuilding Phoenix Drop and we should probably get going.” Aphmau said. 

“Okay, I love you and I’ll miss you.” 

“ _ Love you so much. _ ” Malachi and Levin hugged Aphmau one more time before she pulled away and went over to the other people in her group to start their journey. She already said goodbye to Zoey and Dante but she decided to say goodbye to them one more time before she got on her horse with Kitten and the group set off to Old Meteli, the group was herself, Kitten, Cadenza, Belladonna, Katelyn, Laurance, Emmalyn, Kenmur, and the stranger. Dante, Zoey, Levin, and Malachi would be staying back for obvious reason the reason why Kitten and Belladonna were coming with the group is that Belladonna was the leader of the Phoenix Alliance and Aphmau wanted everyone from the past to be on this journey, and Kitten thought that since she hadn’t contributed to the village in such a long time she, therefore, had no ‘true’ place there. 

It took them most of the day to get to the Old Meteli but the trip there was filled with laughter and cheeriness. Cadenza had apologized for saying that Aphmau hadn’t tried getting Laurance back from hell without knowing anything and Aphmau apologized for getting so worked for nothing, she really was just in a terrible mood from not being able to open the portal. Belladonna helped Aphmau learned RSL and taught her a lot of different phrases and started to help her on how to not be so wordy when signing, the stranger was talking more and looked like he was actually having a fun time, Cadenza and Katelyn got closer with a lurking Laurance in the background who was a little suspicious of Katelyn’s motives with his sister, and Emmalyn and Kenmur were just doing their own thing like reading books and talking about the scientific theory. When they got to Old Meteli their only real goal there was for Laurance and Cadenza to visit their old home after the devastating fire that happened right before the war of Phoenix Drop, Aphmau was still in shock that it was 2036 already and no cool ‘technology’ had been invented yet when Aphmau specifically pointed that out during the trip Belladonna explained that for a good few decades there was a massive dark age where nothing was being invented, written down, thought of, and people were generally depressed. These decades a lot of plagues and viruses popped out of nowhere so that didn’t help the invention of things so basically these few decades were just a big renewable of the world where lots of people died and then new people came along so of course there weren’t going to be ‘technology’ around.

Aphmau stood behind Laurance and Cadenza who just finished planting flowers in the middle of the ruins of Old Meteli, the flowers were red like the ones that Cadenza always used to turn into flower crowns and like the color she turned when Castor turned her into a chicken. Aphmau wondered what happened to Castor after all these years, maybe he was living in New Meteli and finally was sane again because he got help, or maybe he had died because his illness got too much of him. 

“Laurance, are you ready to leave?” Cadenza asked as the soft sound of clucking got louder.

“Did someone say, Laurance!?” A man said as he got into the view of the group “Where is his stupid  _ stupid _ face?” 

“Oh no, oh no no no,” Aphmau said while shaking her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE!! HOW ARE WE ALL DOING TODAY CHAT??   
> Okay so I'm not sure what I want to do with the whole naming chapters right now, I like keeping them just as Chapter # but if you guys would like me to start naming them I can do that!1 I'm not that good at naming chapters since I don't really know how one title will be able to include everything in a chapter especially when so much happens each chapter aldksjflkajsd   
> BUT I hope you guys liked this chapter AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING TILL THE END!! That just means the world to me!!1 Also I will always accept constructive criticism on how to better and improve my work since I'm always looking for improvement!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys like this chapter!! I just want to make it clear before anyone says that I have horrible or bad writing, I use Grammarly to check over my work when I copy + paste it in Ao3 after writing it in Google Docs and when I tell you Grammarly has some weird grammar checking I mean that it has some *weird* grammar checking. I think it's just trying to be professional but I'm not sure. So I'm sorry for the weird wording in some sentences or phrases, I really hope that doesn't make you hate the book <3   
> Have a nice time reading!!

Castor gasped as he and his group of chickens went towards the group “Laurance!? It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you!” 

Cadenza was shaking her head and muttering “Nope, nope nope.” while walking away. 

“Was that Cadenza?” Castor asked before quickly brushing it off “Whatever, Laurance my best friend! It has been too long since I’ve seen your stupid face, let’s see how long it  _ has _ been.” The man began counting on his fingers trying to remember all the years that Laurance has been gone. His eyes were dilated, his hair had grown down to his shoulders and was braided on the sides, he wore puffy yellow pants that crunched up at the ankles and hips, a simple shirt with a cloak of white feathers covering it that went down to the man’s knees, and he still had his red bandana but this time it was hung around his neck. A small part of Aphmau’s heart ached for the poor man who looked like he had been alone all these years, Laurance was feeling the same way from how he looked and hugged Castor. 

“How are you doing buddy?” Laurance asked. 

“I”m doing amazing! Taking care of my chickens, living my own life, doing what… what I- Excuse me are you who I think you are?” Castor asked, pointing a finger at Aphmau. 

“Oh dear god,” Aphmau muttered. 

Castor gasped “You’re that terrible chicken house builder! You think I wouldn’t have recognized you with that stupid ponytail of yours?” Kitten had actually forced Aphmau into letting her put her hair into a braided ponytail after noticing how hot Aphmau was getting with her stupidly long and thick black hair. 

“I was kinda hoping you would’ve forgotten,” Aphmau admitted. 

Castor acted like he was offended. “Why would I forget the woman who saved my people?” 

“What?” Laurance and Aphmau both asked.

“You see, it turns out those ugly gross houses were miraculously and unexpectedly saved by some of my people from the flood of guards that attacked Meteli those fifteen years ago. You are a hero, terrible chicken house builder. We are even planning on building a statue of you out of molten feather-like my cloak!” The man flapped his arms up and down to show off his coat. 

“Then shouldn’t she be called something  _ other _ than ‘terrible chicken house builder? …. Like her name?” Laurance asked. 

“Your… your name is not terrible chicken house builder?” Castor asked, tilting his head.

Aphmau shook her head “I swear I’ve told you it before but I guess you’ve never asked, my name is Aphmau Shalashaska.” 

Castor’s eyes widened at the name “Aph… Aphmau… Shala... Aphmau Shalala?” 

Laurance snorted and quickly turned around to have deniability. Aphmau pursed her lips and sighed “No, close but no. It’s Sha-la-sha-ka. You don’t have to really pronounce the ‘ska’.” Aphmau pronounced slower. 

“Shalashala?” Castor tried again.

Aphmau shook her head “Replaced the last ‘la’ that you did with a ‘ka’.” She instructed. 

Castor took a deep breath and tried for the third time “Shalashaska?” 

Aphmau and Laurance cheered and clapped their hands at Castor “There you go!” Aphmau said. 

“Castor, why are you still here in Old Meteli anyway?” Laurance asked, “I mean it’s abandoned, why don’t you live in New Meteli with Cadenza?” 

“Well you see, I did live in New Meteli I was getting something called ‘help’ but I realized that since no one was in the old Meteli the land was free to rule! I decided to come back and claim this village as the new Chicken Village!” Castor explained. 

“Oh wow, do you still live in your old house?” Laurance asked. 

Castor shook his head and shivered “No, it was taken by the infamous ‘Horse Shaman’. You see, I and my people are at war right now with the Horse Shaman, and his  _ stupid _ people moved into my old place and he is the  _ stupidest _ and  _ ugliest _ shaman EVER!” 

“So you’ve been fighting with this Horse Shaman since when?” Aphmau asked. 

“What? No, we just go over there and throw eggs at his house sometimes.” Castor explained. 

“Then how in the world are you in ‘war’ with him then if he’s done nothing to provoke you?” Aphmau asked. 

“Uh uh… I… wait! What are you two doing in my village anyway? Here to spy for the Horse Shaman?” Castor eyed them suspiciously. 

“We are making a pit stop on our journey to ‘restart’ the Phoenix Alliance,” Laurance said, Aphmau slapped the guard in the arm and stared at him in disappointment. 

“Oh, really? Could I join this alliance?” Castor asked. 

“Um, uhh… do you want to check with your people first? I mean this all really depends on if they want to join or not.” Aphmau asked. 

“True!” Castor turned around and began talking to his people for a bit before turning back around “They want it.” 

Laurance slapped his hand over his eyes and Aphmau groaned. Aphmau turned to her guard “Uh, can I speak to you for a moment? We should discuss all of this.” 

“Yeah totally, we can go uh… over to that tree right there we’ll just be talking about… things.” Laurance pointed over to a tree next to a burned-down building covered in vine. Aphmau nodded her head and the two rushed over there, leaving Castor to talk to his chicken people. 

Aphmau slapped Laurance’s arm as soon as they were out of earshot “What is wrong with you? Why would you tell him anything about the alliance?” She asked. 

Laurence rubbed his arm “Stop hitting me and I don’t know! It was just a spur-of-the-moment type thing but like Aph… he was getting help and I bet that he still needs it so maybe this alliance could help him.” 

Aphmau sighed “That is true, I mean he obviously deserves from how much he’s helped us in the past, whether it is stupid or not.” 

“He’s also  _ very _ strong in his shaman magicks, he could help us now if we wanted,” Laurence added. 

“So we’re actually going to let him join?” Aphmau asked. 

“I mean if you want to,” Laurance answered. 

“I feel like we should really talk to Belladonna about this,” Aphmau said. 

“Well we can tell him that he can join, we’ll tell Belladonna after, and if she says no we just never mention it to him again if we ever run into him,” Laurance said. 

Aphmau took a deep breath and nodded “Okay that sounds fine let’s do this thing.” The two shook hands and went back over to Castor who turned around at just the right time. 

“Aye! So, what is up?” Castor did finger guns. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “So you can join the alliance, we’ll have to talk it over with the leader but overall I bet you’re going to join.” 

The man gasped and clapped his hand, punching his fist into the air “Yes! Let’s go!” 

Laurance laughed “Well we gotta get going Castor, it was really nice seeing you again.” Laurance hugged the Chicken Shaman. 

The man’s face softened up as he embraced Laurance into his arms “It was nice seeing you too stupid Laurance.” 

Laurance pulled back and nodded, walking away from the man. Aphmau smiled at the man before shaking his hand “It’s going to be fun working with you Castor, I’m glad to see you’re doing better.” 

“I’m glad to see you don’t have a job as a chicken house builder,” Castor said. 

“Okay, that’s it. Bye.” Aphmau said coldly before following in Laurance’s footsteps and walking away. Laurance was wiping his eyes and sniffing while walking away, Aphmau didn’t know if it was allergies or if Laurance was actually crying but she stayed close to him either way. Cadenza and the rest of the group were standing around waiting for Laurance and Aphmau to stop talking to Castor, Laurance split off to go tell Belladonna of what happened and Aphmau went over Cadenza to scold her for leaving them. The group was just waiting at the end of the path that went to Meteli from Phoenix Drop to other villages, it was surprising that Castor didn’t already see them and head over, Aphmau guesses that he was too busy trying to rebuild old Meteli into the infamous ‘Chicken Village’. 

“Hey don’t yell at me!” Cadenza defended herself “How was I supposed to know that he reverted into his old ways, we were trying to get him help and it was working surprisingly, I guess it was just working temporarily.” 

Aphmau shrugged “I don’t mind it was nice to see him, it’s been a while and I was already wondering how he was doing.” 

Cadenza nodded “He was such a father-esc figure to me, Laurance, and… and Sasha and we meant the world to him even before he went crazy. It was nice to see him too but I just haven’t seen him in forever and it was kinda overwhelming if I was honest.” 

“Well, if you do join the alliance you might have to deal with him more than you like.” Laurance said as he went over to his sister and Aphmau “Belladonna just approved his joining I guess.” 

“He’ll be good and he needs help!” Belladonna called out with a big smile on her face, she knew what she was doing. 

Cadenza burst out laughing “Are you kidding me? That’s amazing but I guess you’re here to help anyone no matter their mental state. But I do suggest that you guys  _ don’t _ mention Castor when you guys are trying to recruit villages because uh… uh he’s Castor.” 

“Yeah I don’t think I was going to mention him anyway, I love the dude but I don’t want people running away from us when they find out a crazy Chicken Shaman is a part of our alliance.” Aphmau agreed. 

Cadenza laughed “Okay well we should get ready for this week-long trip to Meteli.” Cadenza said nonchalantly.

“A week?!” Aphmau said in shock “But Katelyn said that she made it there in like three days?” 

“Well I mean we have three people walking with us so we have to go a little slower and because we took this small break that’s cost us most of the day it’s probably going to take us a week to get there.” Cadenza explained. 

“Didn't Castor mention something about a Horse Shaman? Or are we completely glossing over that?” Laurance asked. 

“I’ll go!” Kitten volunteered and shot up. 

“I guess I’ll go to see who this Horse Shaman is, I’m guessing they're just back at Castor’s old home so you guys stay here, and once we come back with horses we’ll head off. Deal?” Aphmau asked the group. 

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Cadenza and Laurance agreed. 

“Please dear God, don’t take too long I just want to goooo.” Katelyn groaned. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes as she hopped on her feet and ran over to Kitten who was already making her way to Castor’s old house which she strangely knew. The path to Castor’s house was the same but there was just more overgrowth in the way that made the pair have to go in a different direction. 

When they got to Castor’s old home it was pretty much the same but now there was a stable next to the house that held over a dozen large horses. Feeding one of the horses was a small person with short blonde hair, a plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. 

“Um excuse me,” Kitten said towards the person “are you the Horse Shaman?” 

The person turned around, they had a very androgynous face with a slight beard and their eyes were bright blue “Hm? The Horse Shaman? Oh no, that’s my husband, HON-EY!” The personal called out, they had a white bandage over the side of their head that was shaved and their left eye was squinting but not their right. Aphmau was absolutely hypnotized by their brown skin glowing in the setting sun. 

A man came out of the house with black curly hair, light skin, an unbuttoned shirt, and cargo pants with no shoes. From the voice and the curly black hair, Aphmau and Kitten almost immediately recognized who came out of that house. 

“Brenden!?” Kitten and Aphmau both yelled incredulously. 

Brenden froze on the steps of the house “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He said with a smile. The three ran towards each other and collided with a tight hug, Brenden was the first to pull back so he could take a good look at the two women “Dear Menphia, you guys haven’t aged a day!” 

Aphmau laughed “That’s very sweet of you Brenden um… things happened and now we’re here.” 

“Well if you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine I’m just so happy to see you two.” Brenden’s eyes were watery. 

“Wait so, you’re the Horse Shaman?” Kitten asked. 

“The Horse Shaman?What- ohhh.” Brenden drew out and stared at the person feeding the horses who were now biting at their lip. He sighed “No, I’m not the ‘Horse Shaman’ I’m a horse breeder though. I’m guessing my husband, Rowan, told you that I was the so-called ‘Horse Shaman’?”

The person feeding the horses snorted “I mean they asked.” 

Brenden rolled his eyes “I got that stupid title because some nim-wit named the Chicken Shaman gave me that name after seeing my horses. I mean it keeps people away from my home because of the reputation that Chicken Shaman guy gives Shamans.” 

“Wait, you have a husband!?” Aphmau said, surprise on her face. 

“Oh yeah!” Brenden motioned for Rowan to come over to the group “This is my husband Rowan.” 

“Hi.” The man shook both Kitten and Aphmau’s hands “The name’s Rowan, I’ve been married to Brenden for a few years now and you can refer to me using they/them or he/him.” 

“Oh um, which one do you prefer?” Kitten asked. 

“Either one is completely fine,” Rowan answered.

“Well I’m so happy for you two but we have a little problem on our hands.” Aphmau began explaining their situation and how they needed two or three more horses for their group to be able to make it to Meteli in under three days. 

“Ahh, well you can obviously use our horses but please ask you to only take the ones with the label 'Training Horse’ on their stable fence and once you guys are done with them it would mean the world to me if you brought them back to me,” Brenden said.

“Oh of course totally, mind I ask what’s up with the bandage on your head?” Aphmau asked Rowan. 

“Oh, one of the horses decided to be a little bitch and knock me off of them while we were riding and I hit my head against a rock, I’m totally fine though,” Rowan explained. 

Kitten and Aphmau both cringed, imagining hitting their head against a rock made Aphmau feel extremely uncomfortable. They talked for a bit more, Aphmau and Kitten explaining in simple details what had happened and why they were gone for fifteen years and then also explained the plan for the Phoenix Alliance which Brenden was more than happy to hear about; he even volunteered to help with horses if they ever needed any. After it was the ladies' show and tell Brenden started explaining his position and why he goes under the genius ‘Horse Shaman’. He explained that he just wanted to have a simple life and with the title that he had no bandits would attack or harm his family, when Aphmau asked about how Zoey said that he lived in Phoenix Drop he explained that on some occasions he went over there to visit but he didn’t tell anyone about his home here because he didn’t want people finding out about where he lived where they then attracted other people and then bandits were to find out where they were. 

Aphmau and Kitten finally chose three horses that they wanted, they decided that having fewer people on the horses would be better for the horses in the long run. After choosing the horses they said goodbye to Brenden and Rowan and headed back to the group with the three new horses. When they got back everyone quickly saddled up and followed Katelyn and Cadenza as they led the group through a three-day journey to New Meteli where hopefully they would have their  _ second _ alliance member in the Phoenix Alliance. 

Aphmau was more than ecstatic learning that Brenden had a husband now, he was always so obsessed with girls, and whenever Aphmau brought up the idea of letting go of this toxic masculinity that he held so close to his heart maybe the girl would actually start liking up, guess he finally did it and found someone who truly loved him for his true self. Belladonna during the trip loosened up more and told Aphmau about what happened to the Phoenix Alliance after she had left, Aphmau didn’t want to tell the poor Kharagosa that she already knew from Levin telling her so she just let the woman explain her situation. She was so happy she chose Belladonna to be the leader of the Phoenix Alliance, with how smart Belladonna was she knew that she would take the alliance to great and amazing places that Aphmau would’ve never been able to take it to. The decision to make Belladonna the leader was simply a spur of the moment thing, Belladonna brought up the idea of the Phoenix Drop wall for the war and the guard towers and she always mentioned having war strategies spiraling around her head so Aphmau just assumed that she would be perfect for the job. 

They only slept once during the three-day trip because Cadenza said they were close enough to New Meteli that sleeping for a bit wouldn’t cost them another day but besides that, they went through the night. At the end of the second day of riding, they entered a beautiful mountain valley and Cadenza began explaining that they moved to this mountain range because originally there was a lot of animal life and water so they moved there thinking it would be a great place to prosper but sadly they’ve already gone through famine and their water had been tainted more than once. But besides that their land was absolutely beautiful and lots of people came to visit just to see the beautiful skies and the mountains which was always a plus since more visitors meant more possible citizens. 

It was around the end of the day when they came across this stone arch tunnel, Cadenza led the group through it saying that this led to New Meteli. The tunnel was covered in flowers and vines and beautiful colors, it looked like a rainbow. When they exited the tunnel they were met with what seemed like a totally different planet, the sky was blue and the clouds were straight-up white, the color pallet of the village was browns, grays, dark greens, and beiges it was so beautiful. All the houses looked to be two stories and even with the amount of people Cadenza claimed to be in New Meteli there was a lot of space. The trees around the village were tall and large, towering over the village and casting large shadows that made some parts of the village seem like night. There were parts of the village that went down to a second level because of the unevenness of the land but it somehow made the place even more pretty.

Cadenza showed the group to the farm where they could keep the horses until they had another way to explore the great outdoors. Cadenza ran down the stairs that led to the farm to get back with the group of people she just rode with. 

“So, this is New Meteli!” she said happily. 

“Did you guys build this all from scratch?” The stranger asked, everyone was still in complete awe over the beauty. 

Cadenza nodded “We sure did! Under my father’s rule of course but I had the houses remodeled a little so they could be more ‘stylized’.” 

“It looked absolutely gorgeous,” Laurance said what everyone was thinking. 

“Thank you, I’ve put a lot of love and energy into making this place the best it can be. Now that it’s getting late I would like for all of you to get cleaned up please.” Cadenza said. 

“Hm, why? I’m fine like this.” Kenmur said. 

“Are you kidding me? We’ve been riding for three days non-stop with only  _ one _ break and even with that, we slept in the  _ dirt _ . I’m not letting any of you go anywhere without taking some sort of shower or bath or anything like that, and please tell me you people packed more than one outfit.” 

Everyone said yes. 

“But, where are we staying?” Aphmau asked, “Are we going to be staying in the same place?” 

“I can have the ladies stay with me in my home and if the guys want you can either stay in my home or the hotel down the street.” Cadenza answered. 

“I don’t mind where I stay, I just want to sleep.” Laurance weakly laughed. 

“Same.” Kenmur and the stranger agreed.

“When are we having the meeting?” Belladonna asked. 

“Well, obviously not today so maybe tomorrow evening.” Cadenza answered, “Or whenever you want to tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow evening is fine!” Belladonna said with a smile “So I guess we should go and get ready to bed, Cadenza we’ll follow you.” 

Cadenza nodded “Boys, I’ll get my head guard to take you to the hotel because I would feel a little more comfortable if I didn’t have boys in my sleeping quarters.” 

“Of course.” Kenmur nodded. 

“I wouldn’t want boys watching me sleep either.” The stranger said. 

“Who said anything about them watching me?” Cadenza said with a fearful face. 

The stranger held back a laugh with Laurance standing next to him biting his lip to hold back a laugh as well. Cadenza rolled her eyes and told the ladies to follow her to her house which was gigantic. The ladies sat in the house’s living room waiting for Cadenza as she got her head guard and to take the boys to the hotel down the street. The house had a foyer, a study on the right, if you went straight through the foyer on the right you would find a living room which the ladies were in, on the left you would find a dining room, going past the dining room and the living room you would find the family room on the right that led to the second floor and the backward, and finally, on the left leading to the dining room, you would find the kitchen. The girls were so insanely in love with the house and were so shocked to find that this house was insanely big. They didn’t go up the second floor because they wanted to wait for Cadenza to get back for her to finally show off her own house. After Cadenza came back they had a small dinner, Cadenza showed off the second floor of her house, she gave some of the ladies, like Emmalyn and Kitten who had forgotten sleepwear, sleepwear, and finally, everyone got ready for bed. Before Aphmau was about to go up to the room she was sleeping in, Cadenza stopped her and told her to wait for her name because she had a surprise. 

“Aphmau!” Cadenza said with a drawn-out sing-song. “I’d like you to meet someone!” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and laughed, going to the family room and walking up the polished wooden stairs to go to whatever room that Cadenza was in. She was wearing a satin tank top with satin ruffled shorts that were a light purple that Donna had gifted her since she said that she didn’t fit into them anymore after her multiple pregnancies. Aphmau walked into Katelyn and Cadenza’s shared room and gasped, there was a medium-sized husky and german shepherd mix sitting at Cadenza’s feet with a pastel pink color with the tag name “Crumb”. Aphmau went on her knees and started petting the dog and scratching it all over, she looked into the dog’s eyes and almost started crying. 

“He has Cookie’s eyes,” Aphmau said, looking up at the redhead. 

Cadenza agreed “He really does, I think out of all the dogs he looks the most like his mama.” 

Aphmau looked into the dog’s eyes one more time before looking back up at Cadenza “Did Cookie live a good life? Like was she happy all the time?” 

Cadenza nodded, her voice broke a little as she explained Cookie’s life that she had after Aphmau disappeared. “I made sure to take great care of her and treat her like the lady she was. Don’t worry about the others, by the way, I know Kiki is probably taking really great care of them. Maybe next time you see Brenden you should ask him how Kiki’s doing, I mean they are siblings, after all, maybe he’s kept in contact with her.” 

“I didn’t think of asking him about Kiki.” Aphmau laughed and stood up “Well I hope you have a goodnight, and we’re having that meeting tomorrow right?” 

Cadenza nodded “Goodnight Aphmau.” 

Aphmau walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, and walked down the hallway to open the door to her shared room with Emmalyn. Emmalyn was tying her hair up when Aphmau walked in “Cadenza told me that New Meteli has a rather extensive library. Cadenza is a good Lord to be so open about knowing more about the world, most Lords like having their citizens in this tiny little bubble.” 

“Well, that’s good.” Aphmau said as she began brushing her damp hair for the fiftieth time that day “Are you and Kenmur going to go there tomorrow to try and find something about Irene.” 

Emmalyn nodded “And the other Divines hopefully, there is a little history on them so not everyone knows about them. We’re going to try and read every book we haven’t read already.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and got into her bed “Try not to get suffocated in all those books, what if your head doesn’t have enough room for all that knowledge.” 

Emmalyn laughed “Hopefully Kenmur starts remembering more things then.”

Aphmau laughed before pulling the covers to her shoulders, Emmalyn turning off the lights, and the two of them going to bed the comfortable beds the Cadenza had in her house. 

Aphmau gasped awake, she thought pressure was being applied to her chest but when she looked down nothing was there. The sky was so bright and blue but somehow purple and stars were mixed in with it like the night sky was slowly seeping into the morning sky. It was like Aphmau was on some strange island, as she looked around her the only thing she was the blue and purple sky and the green grass below her but when she looked ahead of her she stared at this beautiful gigantic tree that reminded her of the treehouse that Levin and Malachi had before she left. She went over to the tree, the grass and flowers tickling the bottom of her feet she progressed forward. She reached out to the tree, the rough bark lightly touching her fingers made her feel something familiar. 

Footsteps behind her made her jump “Who's there!?” She said, getting ready to punch someone. 

Garroth came out from behind the tree with his sword ready to attack but when he saw Aphmau he faltered, his mouth was agape and he froze. Aphmau stood there in complete shock as tears started falling from her eyes. 

“Garroth?” Her voice broke as she looked at her right-hand guard, he looked the same as when she left him but not as tall. 

“Aphmau?” He whispered before dropping his sword on the ground, the two ran and hugged each other tightly bringing both of them to the ground. Aphmau sobbed into the man’s shoulder, he rubbed her back as tears came out of his eyes just as strong. 

“I thought you were Zane, I’m so happy you aren’t Zane… you aren’t Zane.” He whispered to Aphmau as she hiccuped from her tears. 

“This can’t be real.” She pulled back, bringing her hands to the sides of the man’s face. Her face was snotty and her eyes were red but she didn’t care about her appearance at this moment “This has to be some kind of cruel  _ cruel _ dream.”

Garroth went quiet, putting his gloved right hand into the back of Aphmau’s hair. Aphmau got goosebumps when she felt his hand against the back of her hair “If this is a dream then I…. Can I kiss you?” He whispered. 

Aphmau’s body felt weak as she let out a barely comprehensible ‘yes’. She almost broke down when she felt Garroth’s soft lips against hers, his hand barely gripped her hair but it still felt nice and the goosebumps were still all along her body. He didn’t seem to mind the burn marks all along the right side of her body and that almost made her cry as Garroth put his other hand on the right side of her face with all the burns and didn’t even mind. Their faces were both still wet and hot with their tears, she could feel the wetness on Garroth’s face against hers. Aphmau pulled back to breathe, they were both softly gasping for air, they stared into each other’s dilated eyes. 

“I...I have no idea what’s happening but at least I got the chance to do that, even if this is a dream.” Garroth said.

“Garroth you… you said…. Before I left you said that you loved me I… so much has happened I-I don’t know.” Aphmau did love Garroth, she loved him more than life itself but she also loved Laurance more than life itself, she also had no way to get Garroth back from the Irene dimension. “I-I do love you, it's just… I-I-I don’t know how to, my heart it's just… so confusing.”

“Hey,” Garroth wiped a tear from Aphmau’s cheek “it’s okay. I don’t expect you to return the feelings that I have for you if your love is true elsewhere. I know about you and Laurance and I feel terrible for doing this behind his back.” 

“Laurance and I?” Aphmau asked “What do you mean?” She could still feel the tears coming down her face like she could see the tears falling down Garroth but they weren’t as bad after the kiss. 

A small smile grew on Garroth’s face “I know you two have something special, I… I saw you two kissing in the woods.” 

“Wh-what?” Aphmau asked, “Garroth I’ve-”

“I don’t need you to explain yourself, it’s okay, I’ve come to terms with it. I just need you to know that I’ve loved you since the day that I met you, since the day we built that stupid dinky boat together.” 

“You remember that?” Aphmau asked. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

A loud church bell rang through this world that Aphmau and Garroth inhabited, it made both of them jump. The world seemed to fade right in front of Aphmau’s eyes, the land at the edge of this strange island began breaking off and the sky started turning a blackish purple with the stars only getting bigger. The only thing that stayed the same was the tree that Aphmau and Garroth were sitting by. 

“What is that?” Aphmau was fearful of what this meant. 

“Is the moment over?” Garroth asked, staring into Aphmau’s eyes. The last thing she saw before she gasped awake in the room she fell asleep with was Garroth’s beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of the sky outside. 

She woke up with a terrible headache and pressure on her chest but when she looked down at her chest like last time she saw nothing. Emmalyn was pacing back and forth in front of the door to the room Aphmau and she were in, Aphmau strugglingly sat up on the bed, leaning against her arm as she rubbed her eyes “Emmalyn? What are you doing?” Aphmau asked groggily. 

Emmalyn snapped her head at Aphmau, she could almost hear the librarian’s heartbeat as she began screaming at her “Are you kidding me!?” she snapped “Where the fuck were you!?” 

Aphmau raised her eyebrow in confusion “What do you mean?” 

“What do I mean? What do I mean she says.” Emmalyn began hysterically laughing to herself “You were gone! I woke up and you were not in bed, you weren’t anywhere in the house! Literally,  _ everyone _ is out looking for you, where did you even come from!? I’ve been here this whole time waiting just in case you came back and now you’re in bed all COMFY!?” 

“Emmalyn please, can you not scream right now? I have a headache.” Aphmau informed, rubbing her temple with her free hand. 

Emmalyn took a deep breath “Can you please just explain where in the world you went.” 

“I uh… I guess I was dreaming? I was in this weird island world thing and the sky was purple and blue with stars  _ and _ clouds and there was this tree.” Aphmau began explaining all that happened in her dream, how everything felt so real, how she saw Garroth, how she kissed Garroth, and how right before she woke up the loud church bell rang throughout the world. 

“Do you think that this dream had something to do with you disappearing?” Emmalyn asked. 

Aphmau shrugged “I’m not sure what exactly to think about it.” 

“Aphmau, you could’ve been with the  _ actual _ Garroth Ro’meave. I’ve never heard anything like this before, though some scholars have documented things that might be attributed to this but not  _ exactly _ this.” Emmalyn said she was semi talking to herself semi talking to Aphmau. 

“I don’t even know how I got there first of all so I don’t know how I could’ve met the real Garroth,” Aphmau added. 

“Well, I’m going to delve deeper into the subject of dream sequences and people who can see dreams and the possible future. I’m gonna go to the library with Kenmur and see if I can find anything like this, I’ll try and find Cadenza to let her know you’re safe. Stay here if you don’t feel well.” Emmalyn said as she began walking out of the room. 

“Was planning on doing that anyway,” Aphmau said as her goodbye to Emmalyn as she exited out the door. Emmalyn looked slightly like an old lady which made Aphmau laugh to herself in bed as she awaited Cadenza. 

After a couple of minutes of just playing with her hands and staring at the ceiling Aphmau’s door bust open with the fiery redhead holding the doorknob. She rushed over to Aphmau and hugged the woman tightly making it hard to breathe. “Gods forfend I thought we lost you, you scared me to death!” Cadenza whispered as she hugged Aphmau. 

Aphmau had to tap Cadenza on the shoulder to make her stop hugging her so tightly and pull away ‘I didn’t mean to scare you or anything I still don’t know what exactly happened.” 

“I know, I know I was just worried. I didn’t want to lose you for another fifteen years again.” Cadenza said as she fixed Aphmau’s hair. 

“I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t scare anyone  _ too _ much.” Aphmau smiled softly and awkwardly. 

“I thought you were taken captive by bandits somehow so I have half my guard squad looking for you, I guess I’ll have to send someone to retrieve everyone since they are out looking for you. Belladonna said it was okay if we postpone the meeting to tonight if you aren’t feeling amazing, you are the person who made her the leader anyway. I can make breakfast for you in a bit or if you want to you can make it yourself I don’t really care I just want to make sure you’re alright.” Cadenza said, she was talking fast and her hands were vibrating. 

“Thank you Cadenza, you are the sweetest person I know, truly. I promise I’ll never leave like that again, I  _ hope _ I never leave like that again.” Aphmau corrected herself. 

Cadenza laughed, she softly sniffled “Well you get changed and all that jazz, I’ll be outside having a talk with my guards on what we should do with you.”

Aphmau nodded “I’m just gonna… chill for a bit.” 

Cadenza softly nodded and walked out of the room while wiping her eyes. Aphmau almost fell asleep one more time but she decided to finally just get up and look around her room, she brushed out her hair with her fingers before finding one of her brushes and just brushing her hair out for a few minutes while choosing what outfit she wanted to wear for the day. She was going to wear a white tank top with a light peach ankle-length skirt that wrapped around itself and left a small window that showed her feet, she also had a sheer purple scarf that she wanted to wrap around her waist as some type of belt. She wondered if Cadenza was still in love with fashion like she used to be when she lived in Phoenix Drop. When looking around the room she even found Cadenza’s old sewing machine in the closet with a bunch of other trinkets like snow globes and different scented candles. Cadenza was wearing the same outfit she wore when she first saw Aphmau, or maybe it was a different color armor? All she saw the puffy undershirt that Cadenza first wore when Aphmau saw her. 

After a few minutes of just waiting out her headache her door burst open with Laurance standing where the door was, he rushed over to Aphmau and hugged her tightly. 

“Everyone else is outside, we were so worried.” Laurance caressed Aphmau’s hair. 

“I know, I know, I know.” Aphmau comforted “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” 

Laurance pulled away “Cadenza and Emmalyn already told me everything. Kitten and Belladonna have nothing to say on the subject, Emmalyn and Kenmur are already in the Meteli library trying to figure the universe out, Katelyn is with Cadenza who is outside, and no one really knows where the stranger is.” Laurance informed. 

“How do  _ you _ feel though?” Aphmau asked. 

“I don’t think Garroth would do something like that so out of the blue, even if he liked you for so long.” Laurance answered, “I know Emmalyn says that it's real but it's just… unlikely.”

“Well I mean I did actually go somewhere else if my body really wasn’t in my bed, do you think that someone is going to have to watch over me?” Aphmau asked. 

Laurance shrugged “I really don’t know. It would be the safest option though.” He looked down at Aphmau’s outfit and his face immediately went red “HOLY IRENE I’M SO SORRY!” He covered his eyes and backed up. 

Aphmau laughed “Oh it’s okay! It’s okay!” 

“No, it is not! I will be leaving you to get dressed and I’m going to go kill myself.” Laurance said as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and laughed to herself as she began to get dressed and brush her teeth, her usual bathroom routine. She put on her shoes, placed her sword in her sheath, and set out for the day. Outside of the house Cadenza was arguing with Laurance about someone watching over Aphmau with Katelyn and another guard standing on the sidelines. The other guard that Aphmau didn’t recognize looked calm and quiet as they stared at Laurance with longing eyes, they wore a yellow undershirt with silver chainmail and silver armor with golden flower patterns everywhere, the only thing that wasn’t yellow or silver was the guard’s boots which when to their knees and were brown. They had olive tan skin, cyan eyes, and long black dreads that were shaved on the sides. 

“I can’t watch Aphmau, I need to get my beauty sleep. I care about her but I just can’t.” Cadenza argued. 

“Oh yeah sure ‘beauty sleep’, don’t act like I didn’t hear you and Katelyn talking all night last night,” Laurance said. 

Cadenza gasped “When were you in my house!?” 

“I don’t need to tell you anything!” Laurance yelled. 

Cadenza sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose “Why don’t you just dress like a girl and then you can watch over her.” 

“I’M NOT DRESSING LIKE A GIRL!” Laurance yelled “And anyway I would be  _ way _ hotter than you and all your fucking potential with Katelyn would be LOST by ME! Right guard dude?” Laurance pointed at the Meteli guard standing next to Cadenza. Laurance was just wearing a simple button-up shirt with brown pants and brown boots with brown leather or gauze wrapped around his hands and forearms. 

The guard stuttered “I-I guess I don’t…. Uh, I don’t really know.” 

Laurance rolled his eyes and continued to argue with his sister. Aphmau sneakily went over to the Meteli guard, she tapped on the guard’s shoulder to get his attention and waved “Hello, um how are you?” 

“Me? Oh I’m fine, are you new to the village.” The guard asked. 

Aphmau nodded “I am one of Cadenza’s friends.” 

“Oh! Well hello there, my name is Zack Rossi, my pronouns are he/him and I am the head guard here in ‘New’ Meteli. Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with, but at the moment I’m a little preoccupied with making sure that Cadenza’s brother doesn’t start a fight with her. Welcome to New Meteli by the way.” The guard nicely said, his mouth was covered with a sand-colored mask so Aphmau didn’t really know if he was smiling or not but his voice told her he was. 

Aphmau thanked the man, told him her name and her pronouns as well, and then went over to Katelyn. She was happy that something like telling someone your pronouns seemed so normal now, she wondered how Kawaii~Chan felt when things like that started getting normalized. Aphmau tapped on the woman’s shoulder, she didn’t want Cadenza or Laurance to drag her into the argument so she made sure to be as quiet as possible “Hey.” She whispered. 

Katelyn looked over her shoulder at Aphmau “Oh hey, if you don’t mind I could be the one to watch over her.” 

“Oh that would be greatly appreciated, thank you.” Aphmau said, “You really don’t have to do that though.” 

Katelyn shrugged “It’s not a problem. I’m interested to see what happens and how exactly you get there if you do it again of course. I understand your magicks are not predictable right now so it may or may not happen again. We’ll have to see, I suppose.” 

Aphmau nodded “Hopefully I get to see Garroth again.” 

Katelyn raised her eyebrow before nodding her head in agreement “Hopefully. Could I ask you a question by the way?” She asked. 

“Sure!” 

“Emmalyn and Cadenza told us that you kissed Garroth in your ‘dream’. Did it feel real?” Katelyn asked. 

Aphmau bit her lip and nodded “It’s like it was actually happening.” 

“Interesting. I don’t know Garroth as well as you and Laurance do, all I know is that he is Zane’s older brother and allowed himself to betray you. It makes me wonder what could drive a man to betray someone he decides to kiss later” Katelyn shrugged “Were you and Garroth a thing?” 

Aphmau shook her head “We weren’t, he said he loved me and… I don’t know if I love him back romantically or platonically, I deal with that a lot.” 

“You do? How so?” Katelyn asked, finally turning around to face Aphmau completely. 

“Well, it’s a little private I guess but Laurance has always said that he loves me and I do believe him and I love him too but… I don’t know  _ how _ I love him exactly. Do I love him because he protects me as a guard or do I love him because he makes me feel warm when he laughs.” Aphmau answered. 

“Hm, I dealt with that when I was in my teenage years. A strange thing that love is.” Katelyn added. 

Aphmau laughed “Yeah. Now could I ask you something?” Aphmau asked. 

“You entertained my silly question, so what’s on your mind?” Katelyn asked. 

Aphmau took a deep breath, she had been thinking about this during her time in the Phoenix Drop settlement and during the trip to New Meteli but she wasn’t sure if it was something that she really wanted to do or something that could actually help them “Do you think we should make some sort of new village or new settlement?” Aphmau asked. 

Katelyn shrugged “If you’re asking me if you should be Lord again, I don’t know anything about that or you as I only knew for a few months and most of those months were me just stalking you in my ship. If you’re talking about making some type of home base I think that would actually be a good idea, I assume that we’ll be traveling around for years and years, region to region, so it would be nice to come back to a place to just chill. If you’re worried about your sons that's really not my position to talk about.” 

Aphmau nodded “Thanks, I’m gonna think about it more and talk to Belladonna before I decide anything.” 

“Sounds like a good idea.” Katelyn nodded. 

Aphmau snapped her fingers and left the woman to make sure that no fights ignited between Cadenza and Laurance. She didn’t know exactly where the New Meteli library was and she didn’t want to bother Zack again because he was busy with the Zvahl siblings so she went up to the nearest guard and started asking him where the library was. The guard she walked up to had the same armor as Zack but without the golden floral pattern, they also looked like Zack as well but their skin was much paler and they had pure black eyes, they also didn’t have a mask on their face. The first thing Aphmau noticed was not the guard’s void black eyes but the guard’s nose, it was narrow and straight, Aphmau always admired different nose shapes instead of the basic European ones that circled the Phoenix Drop village back when she was Lord. She got the guard’s attention. 

“Eh? What do you-” The guard grumble “OH SHIT! I apologize for addressing you so abruptly! Had I seen you before you got my attention then I would’ve addressed you the way you deserve to be addressed!” 

Aphmau raised one eyebrow “Which is?” 

“Well, that’s a good question! I’m not sure how I would address such a beautiful goddess such as yourself.” The guard winked, they had very sharp teeth, not anything dramatic but it was definitely noticeable. 

Aphmau sighed and rolled her eyes “Okay chill out Laurance I’ll ask someone else.” She began walking away when the guard apologized profusely and took back what he said. 

“I’m sorry, that was stupid I know I shouldn’t have said that!” Aphmau sighed once more and turned back around, giving the guard one more chance to introduce himself “My name is Vincent Andrews, I’m second in command here in ‘New’ Meteli uh… Oh! My pronouns are he/they and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The guard smiled. 

Aphmau smiled back “it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” She told Vincent her name and pronouns “I’m just looking to see where the library is.” 

“Ah the library, love that place, well you’ll just take a right down here, continue straight, and turn right again and you should see a big building with the word ‘LIBRARY’ above the door. You’re allowed to read as many books as you want, however, Lord Cadenza is very strict about people taking them elsewhere. We once had a bandit come in and take a very specific book about the bloodline of the King and burn it in the street.” Vincent answered. 

“I guess some people just don’t like things that could help better society,” Aphmau added. 

Vincent shrugged “Guess not. Now is there anything else I can help you with?” 

Aphmau shook her head “I’m good thank you.” 

Vincent nodded “Glad to help, if there is anything I can help you with please let me know. If you happen to come across Lord Cadenza could  _ not _ tell her about the whole… me hitting on your thing? She hasn’t been in the greatest mood this morning since her friend went missing, she’s safe now though from what I’ve been told but I just don’t want to cause her any more stress.” 

Aphmau held back a giggle that the guard didn’t know that  _ she _ was Aphmau but she went along with it anyway. She thanked the man for his service and went on her way to the library while walking she came across Belladonna and the stranger who was simply taking and enjoying each other’s company, it was a bit funny to Aphmau that the two people who were closed off the most and the most ‘mature’ would be confined in each other. 

Before she turned right and walked into this little shopping plaza that held the library she saw a beautiful wheat field with a little house and a terrified-looking woman at the edge. Aphmau’s curiosity got the best of her and she made her way to the wheat field. The soft sounds of hissing and meowing coming from the house-made Aphmau suspect that this poor little lady had a cat problem. 

“Hello!” Aphmau waved at the lady “How are you?” 

“Oh, I’m good! I just had a little rat problem but this lovely meif’wa volunteered to help me!” The lady answered. 

“Oh so is that the meowing and hissing that’s in your house?” Aphmau asked. 

The woman nodded “I don’t know exactly what she’s doing in there.” 

“I GOT THEM!” Kitten yelled. 

The two women turned their heads and both yelled out of shock, grabbing onto each other a bit. Kitten had a handful of dead rats and a large dead rat hanging out of her mouth, her eyes were dilated and she looked like she was in the middle of an adrenaline rush. 

“What are you doing!? Get that thing out of your mouth!” Aphmau yelled, swatting at the rat in Kitten’s mouth. 

Kitten let the rat fall out of her mouth “Okay gods! I don’t have anywhere to throw this out.” 

“Um, there are a bunch of waste bins over there if you want to throw it out over there.” The little lady pointed at a building that was close to the library that Aphmau wanted to go to originally. Aphmau and Kitten thanked the lady before Aphmau dragged Kitten away to throw out the dead rats. 

Aphmau and Kitten ran into a guard about the height of Aphmau but just a little taller with blonde hair and grey-ish eyes. He looked panicky and apologized profusely for running into the pair. 

“Hey, it’s okay we’re just trying to find the waste bins I guess?” Aphmau said, “Do you know where those are?” 

“Oh yes!” He pointed to a couple of wooden bins just to Kitten and Aphmau’s right. 

Kitten slapped Aphmau’s arm “You really just couldn’t just look to your right?” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “I’m sorry were  _ you _ looking?” 

Kitten scoffed and went over to the bins and poured out the dead rats in her arms. Aphmau began talking to the guard, she learned that his name was Adonis, he used he/him pronouns, he was the leading soldier on the negotiation team, and that he was very sorry for bumping into the girls. 

“Okay well, I’m gonna head out and try to get lost in the woods!” Kitten said before sprinting off into the mountain valley. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “I’m sorry for her she’s insane.” 

“Oh, it’s fine! Would you like me to help you with anything else?” Adonis asked. 

Aphmau shook her head “I’m good, it was nice talking to you!” She said as she walked away. 

“It was nice talking to you as well!” Cloud waved goodbye. 

Aphmau turned around and finally went towards the library which was her original destination. She ran down the shopping plaza and finally found the library which was bigger than she expected. Aphmau opened the door, which rung a little bell that cheered Aphmau up a bit, and went over to the librarian sitting at the check-out desk while reading a hefty book.

Aphmau waved her hand “Hello!” She whispered, “Um I’m looking for a girl with black glasses, blonde hair, kinda dresses like an old lady.” 

“Oh yes! She’s upstairs in the deity section with her boyfriend.” The Librarian answered. 

“I-uh… okay thank you!” Aphmau waved goodbye, quietly giggling to herself about the fact that this poor woman thought that Emmalyn and Kenmur were dating. She walked up the stairs that were direct to her write and looked up to see if there were signs that showed what books were on what shelf, luckily there were! She took a right and headed straight for the deity section where she found Emmalyn and Kenmur sitting on the floor reading books, their legs were entangled with each other. 

Aphmau held back a laugh at the sight, they weren’t exactly helping their ‘single’ case “Hey.” She whispered. 

Emmalyn turned her head and a smile appeared on her face “Hello! We sadly haven’t found anything.” 

Aphmau nodded “It’s fine, I’m just worried about how that librarian downstairs said that Kenmur was your boyfriend…” 

“WHAT!?” Emmalyn and Kenmur both yelled out of shock. 

“Shh!” Aphmau put a finger to her lips at the two “What is wrong with you two you are in a  _ library _ !” 

Kenmur’s face got red and he shoved it in a book, Emmalyn just rolled her eyes “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I and Kenmur are not in a relationship; she must’ve made an assumption.” 

“Hm, well tell me if you guys find anything,” Aphmau said. 

“We will,” Emmalyn said before returning to her book, untangling her legs from Kenmur’s. 

Aphmau spent the short time she had just looking out into the mountain valley and finally getting herself some breakfast which she should’ve got way earlier into her short trip to the library but she totally forgot. The cold air of North Ru’aun felt nice against her face, it especially felt nice on the underside of her head that her hair always covered. She wondered why she never got a haircut, she also wondered why in the world her hair was so long, she wondered if it had anything to do with the fifteen minutes in the Irene dimension and then coming out unexpectedly. Maybe when Irene went in that dimension to wait until the next big event or something like that she had to prepare herself so she wouldn’t be faced with strange and drastic changes like her hair growing the amount that it would in fifteen years in fifteen minutes, Aphmau didn’t know so she was just spitballing to herself. She loved her hair more than anything but sometimes it would get too much to handle, maybe it was her heritage? Maybe it was because she was Hispanic? She didn’t exactly know, she remembered Laurance talking about his relatives who were also Aztec and how he was the first of many children to have light brown hair instead of dark hair and how he was the first of many children to have curly hair instead of straight hair. He had the same dark tan skin as his relatives so that didn’t separate him much, it was just the hair that made his family admire him and think that he was a ‘child of great things' because he was ‘different’... he never believed it though. Maybe that was why Aphmau had such thick black hair and tan skin, maybe that’s why in the back of her mind she knew the Spanish translation to English words. She never knew anything about her heritage or culture or anything like that, she just woke up one day in a forest and during those few years that she was awake and ‘alive’ she started remembering more and more things but she never remembered  _ how _ she got in that forest. That was the one thing that made her pick at her brain and want to know more, maybe it was as level and she just hadn’t gotten to the level, or maybe it was because she just  _ wasn’t _ supposed to know how she got in the forest. She wanted to find out one day but if she died without truly known how she ended up there… she wouldn’t really mind. 

She was so into thought that she didn’t even realize that Belladonna was right behind her telling her that the meeting was starting. 

“APHMAU!” Belladonna yelled. 

Aphmau jumped and turned her head “What!?” 

“The meeting is starting!” She snapped. 

“Well, how was I supposed to know!?” Aphmau argued as she stood up. 

“I was literally telling you about FIVE MINUTES AGO!” Belladonna yelled as Aphmau began to follow her to the meeting. 

“You were not talking to me five minutes ago, you were here like a minute ago!” Aphmau said. 

“Then were you just ignoring me!?” Belladonna snapped. 

“I WAS DAYDREAMING!” Aphmau snapped back. 

Belladonna rolled her eyes and shrugged off the argument, resuming normal conversation with Aphmau and telling her where the meeting was going to be held and what she was going to talk about. Belladonna said that if Aphmau had anything to say she should tell it to her now since she already planned what she was going to say, Aphmau refused to say that she didn’t want to ‘ruin’ Belladonna’s big moment. Belladonna opened the door to Cadenza’s house, letting Aphmau inside, and then leading her to the living room where Aphmau almost screamed. 

“Ulrich!” She gasped “Oh my Irene Sterling!” She was so shocked to see both Ulrich and Sterling in the same room, they looked so different but they had aged amazingly. Ulrich still had his fatherly face but he was now wearing commoner clothes and his hair was grey, Sterling was wearing a guard uniform like Zack’s and co had darker hair with silver streaks. They both migrated towards Aphmau and hugged her tightly. 

“Dear gods, you don’t look a day over 20!” Ulrich laughed. 

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Aphmau joked.

“It’s so good seeing you Aphmau! We already met with Belladonna and everyone else a few minutes ago, I almost burst into tears.” Sterling added, signing with cos hands. 

“Oh, I totally forgot you were deaf!” Aphmau apologized, trying her best to sign what she said. 

“Oh, it’s fine!” Sterling said, “I can read everyone’s lips just fine but then again signing does help.” 

“My son, Malachi, actually used RSL because he’s mute,” Aphmau added. 

“Oh really?” Sterling asked, “That’s really cool!” 

“It was so nice seeing Kenmur once again, we heard about what happened with that strange dimension. Belladonna told us.” Ulrich told Aphmau. Ulrich also signed what he said to make sure Sterling knew what he was saying. 

“I bet Kenmur really missed you.” Aphmau guessed. 

Ulrich shrugged “He was more confused on how I got so old.” 

Aphmau softly gasped “You don’t look old, you  _ both _ actually look amazing.” 

“Aww, you’re just saying that. I’m not the head guard I used to be fifteen years ago.” Sterling protested. 

“So are you guys both on this New Meteli Council?” Aphmau asked.

The two nodded “Belladonna has my ‘yes’ on us joining the alliance.” Ulrich said.

“Same here, I know how good of a leader Belladonna was during the War of 2021. I know she’ll be a good one now.” Sterling agreed. 

“That’s very sweet of you both.” Belladonna said, “I thank you for agreeing to join us, I’ll be sure that if New Meteli  _ does _ join Phoenix Alliance I’ll treat it with the utmost respect.” Belladonna signed  _ and _ said. 

“Have you not been respecting it already?” Sterling asked. 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

Sterling barked out a laugh and slapped Belladonna’s arm lightly “I knew that! Just pulling your leg, I believe you’ll lead this alliance into greatness.” 

“Holy shit…” Aphmau heard whispers behind Ulrich and Sterling, surprisingly no one else heard the whisper or maybe they ignored it. Aphmau wasn’t sure. She looked behind the guards to see Zack and Vincent sitting next to each other on the V-shaped couch that Cadenza had. Aphmau excused herself and went over to the two men. 

“Small world, huh?” Aphmau said. 

“Small world indeed!” Zack agreed “If I knew you were the ex-lord of Phoenix Drop and the right-hand woman to the leader of the Phoenix Alliance I would have paid more mind to you. I do appreciate your modest behavior and I’m excited to hear more about this alliance of Belladonna’s.” Zack said.

_ ‘Right-hand woman to the leader of the Phoenix Alliance’? _ Aphmau thought in her head  _ Strange, I wonder if Belladonna told them that, or are they just assuming? _

“I’m so sorry for hitting on you.” Vincent whispered, “I’m so sorry, I thought you were just a normal villager.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “It’s cool, I just hope that my beauty won’t make you automatically give me a ‘yes’.” 

Vincent shook his head “I care more about my village than any other woman.” 

“Hm, you are and Laurance has very different views.” Aphmau joked. 

“Ha!” Belladonna barked “The fact that Laurance would let Phoenix Drop  _ burn _ if it meant you would be with him.” 

Aphmau and Belladonna laughed at the kharagosa’s joke. Cadenza called out that the meeting was beginning and that everyone should shut up besides Belladonna and Aphmau. 

Belladonna was the main speaker, with some points and add-ons from Aphmau, Ulrich, and Sterling. Vincent and Zack acted like totally different people during Belladonna’s speech, they both turned very serious and looked like they were paying close attention to every little word that Belladonna said, this naturally made Belladonna very nervous as her hands started shaking a bit and she stuttered over a few words. Aphmau just whispered to her that she was okay and that these boys are probably just staring at her boobs and she went back to her calm and collected self. Ulrich, Sterling, and Cadenza were trying to hide their smiles but the glow that they raided as they listened to Belladonna was more than obvious, Sterling was more than happy to tell Vincent and Zack the amazing fight that Belladonna put up when the walls started breaking down and Ulrich was more than happy to explain the kindness and hospitality that Aphmau and Belladonna had showed Meteli when they showed up at their village out of nowhere because O’Khasis had burned down their village. Zack and Vincent’s faces didn’t change throughout the entire speech. 

When Belladonna was finally done with her speech Cadenza stepped up to the plate and took over. 

“So know that we know what the Phoenix Alliance entails, are we all agreed to join? Yea or Nay?” Cadenza asked with a smile on her face. 

“Yea,” Ulrich said. 

“Yea.” Sterling signed and said. 

“Nay,” Zack said, his eyes avoiding contact with the very shocked and surprised Sterling and Ulrich. 

“Undecided,” Vincent answered. 

Cadenza sighed “Why did I see this coming? Zack, please present your rebuttal to joining.” 

Zack pushed up his sand-colored mask “Let’s get one thing straight Cadenza, this is  _ New _ Meteli, not  _ Old _ Meteli. I can see why the guard of Old Meteli would be in favor of joining, however, I feel that changing things the way they are will open us up to be more vulnerable than we are now.” Zack lectured. 

“I fail to see how the mentality of Old and New Meteli even matter, Mr. Zack Rossi. From what I heard from your Lord, you need our help. Like it or not you are not safe here where you are, you’ve had a troublesome number of bandits around your village, you’ve gone through a famine,  _ and _ you’ve even had your water tainted. Thankfully you survived… but the question is how long  _ will _ you survive? Having outside help like an alliance will make your chances of survival much greater.” Belladonna stressed, she scared Aphmau a little with the way she so calmly threatened but not threatened Zack. 

“Oh wow, you’ve really thought about this haven’t you?” Zack asked in shock. 

“I’ve been making possible outcomes of your village for the past twenty-four hours.” Belladonna smiled a toothy grin. 

“I’m sorry, the two viewpoints given here are just… I need some time to think about all of this. If I’m being honest Cadenza, I know you like to butter us up with food and beautiful girls-” He winked at Belladonna with a smile, she shot up her hand with her wedding ring and his smile quickly faded “however this isn’t something we can decide on in a day. Maybe yes for the people who once knew Mrs. Belladonna Luke and Miss. Aphmau Shalashaska but for Zack and myself…. I’m sorry, we just need to think about this.” 

Cadenza nodded “I understand. I do want both of you to have an answer in the morning though, understood?” 

Zack and Vincent both nodded “Of course.”

“Maybe you’ll win my vote with more beautiful ladies and cheese.” Vincent winked. 

“I will fucking murder you, Vincent.” Cadenza threatened. 

“Cheese?” Ulrich questioned. 

  
  


A man with dark red eyes and tan skin stood in front of a broken portal that he once used to get into the overworld. He wore Shadow Knight armor that radiated darkness and loneliness, the black and red colors glowing off of him. In his hand he held a vial of blood, a  _ large _ vial of blood which he used to spread around the inside of the portal, he placed a black flower in the middle of the portal where he then started whispering and muttering words that wouldn’t make sense to any mortal ears. As he spoke in tongues the portal started glowing a dark purple until the entire area of the portal was a sheer glowing purple that raided darkness like the man’s armor.

He smirked and walked through the portal with no hesitation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO EVERYONE AND THANK YOU FOR READING ALL THE WAY TILL THE END!! THAT'S SO INSANE AND IM SO PROUD OF YOU DUDE!!   
> Just know that you're doing everything correctly in your life even if it doesn't seem like it, you can do this <3   
> Just some words of encouragement to brighten your day!! <3 <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter!! I'm sorry that I didn't post this yesterday I was really tired after school and just totally forgot I'm so sorry!! Also I'm sorry for posting so late tonight I had to do a SHIT TON of school work yay.   
> Hope you enjoy reading love you guys lots!!! <3 <3 <3

Belladonna sat on Cadenza’s couch staring into the crackling fireplace. She was worried about the whole Phoenix Alliance, it was strange to her. None of this was supposed to happen, she was never supposed to stay in this mortal world for too long but here she is fifteen years later being the leader of the Phoenix Alliance once again. She wondered how the titans up above thought of her, getting attached to this mortal plane, these mortal people… they probably thought she was weak. She wished Kitten hadn’t fucked up, maybe if she didn’t fuck up the timeline then maybe she would’ve been home by now, but now she’s here having to fix tiny little things so the titans above don’t rain fire on the world that she loved. Titans have lived amongst the mortals for centuries now but you’re never supposed to tell that what you are, Belladonna and Kitten fucked up by telling Aphmau what they were,  _ who _ they were… maybe if Belladonna never showed her true self that one time when Laurance came back then maybe none of this would’ve happened. 

She and Kitten were very different somehow, they were raised the same, lived practically the same life but… Kitten was weak. Kitten would tell anyone who she is if it meant that none of her friends wouldn’t get hurt. She could somewhat sympathize with her sister, it was hard being a titan of time, knowing what’s going to happen in the future and having to keep those secrets to yourself… knowing all the terrible things happening right now as we speak and not being able to help anyone. Knowing the true intentions of people, knowing what people are planning, knowing that your home is about to be attacked yet if you tell anyone,  _ anyone, _ at all you’d ruin everything, and the chance of not only you but everyone you know dying skyrockets. 

“Fun dinner huh?” Cadenza asked, walking into the room. 

“Hm? Oh yeah, Sterling is a real bitch.” Belladonna laughed. 

Cadenza sighed “You’re worried about us not joining the Phoenix Alliance, aren’t you?” 

“What? No, no just thinking.” Belladonna answered. 

“Belladonna, you can’t lie to me. I can see it in your face, plus you barely even touched your food. Cadenza said, moving closer to the woman. 

Belladonna licked her lips “Okay yeah, I’m a little worried. I don’t want this whole alliance to be a big bust and I  _ do _ want to protect and help your village… I’m just worried about all of this.” 

“Bella, you have nothing to worry about, I’m a hundred percent sure Meteli will be joining the Phoenix Alliance. My new guards just… well, they need time to think about it. I’m sure Vincent and Zack are going to consult Adonis. Those three guys are my top guards here in Meteli, they’re very close.” Cadenza explained. 

“How long have they been with you?” Belladonna asked. 

“Well, they’ve been in Meteli for about seven-ish years and have been my guards around four to five years. They’re all wonderful, Vincent is a massive jackass but he’s sweet and means well truly. Zack is very straightforward and sly and Adonis well he’s shy and reserved… he’s very panicky but he’s super smart. They have Meteli’s best interest in mind.” Cadenza responded. 

“If you trust them it’ll make my process of trusting them a little easier-” A blood-curdling scream cut Belladonna off and made her grab her bunny ears in pain to block out the sound. 

“What was that!?” Cadenza jumped. 

The two ran out of the home out into the village where almost a dozen guards were fighting off ghostly-looking figures who were screaming their hearts out. Belladonna closed her eyes for a quick second to take in all the information her brain was getting about everything happening at the moment. All of them were black and white with wispy clouds of grey as their legs, their eyes were glowing yellow and black oil dripped from their body. Zack and Vincent were trying to fight off the demons when Adonis and Laurance busting out of nowhere to drive a sword through three of their heads, Cadenza seriously thought that Belladonna had passed out because she wasn’t answering anything while she was trying to figure out what was going on. 

“Aye! You two get cadenza to safety, we’ll hold off these things!” Adonis yelled at Zack and Vincent. 

Zack looked like he was about to have a heart attack “These are-” 

“Shadow Souls!” Belladonna yelled, snapping her eyes open and flicking her hand to have a sword appear in her hand. 

“How do you know that!?” Vincent asked. 

“Why is a portal to hell OPEN!?” Laurance screamed and pulled his sword out of one of the Shadow Souls “Who OPENED A PORTAL!?” 

“What does that mean!?” Zack asked. 

A pair of hands grabbed Cadenza’s waist and pulled her away from the fight, Cadenza turned her head to see Katelyn holding her.

“What are you doing here!?” Belladonna asked. 

“Trying to protect my- Cadenza!” Katelyn answered. 

“Why are these things so strong!?” Zack asked, fighting against a couple of the Shadow Souls. 

“They’ve been channeling their power in hell for  _ way _ too long!” Belladonna yelled, fighting against a couple with Vincent to protect Cadenza. 

“Will you guys just PLEASE get Cadenza to safety!?” Adonis yelled once more.

A group of Shadow Souls pushed past Vincent and Belladonna, she knew what was going to happen so she purposely tripped Vincent when he went to protect Cadenza. Katelyn was ripped from the redhead and thrown against the building next to her before the Shadow Souls grabbed the screaming Cadenza and dragged her into the forest. 

“Are you KIDDING ME!?” Katelyn yelled, running after the demons. 

Belladonna rolled her eyes as she, Vincent, and Adonis ran after the blue-haired woman. They stood at the edge of a hill, looking out to see where they had taken Cadenza. Belladonna knew where exactly they had taken Cadenza so she let them look around to figure everything out, if they said something or did something wrong she would just be there to slightly turn them in the right direction because from what she knew from Kitten, everyone was going to stay alive for the time being so she knew that Cadenza wasn’t about to die right now. 

“Adonis, you search the right side of the forest with Belladonna, and me and Lady Katelyn will take the left,” Vincent ordered. 

“Who said I was going with you?” Katelyn asked. 

“Katelyn, if you are alone during this you are most likely going to  _ die _ . We don’t know what exactly those things can do.” Belladonna warned. 

“Okay well, we need to find Cadenza before they do anything with her,” Katelyn said. 

“They’ll probably try and expand the portal,” Vincent said. 

“How?” Adonis asked. 

“She’s a medium right? She could focus the portal energy to expand it and allow Shadow Knights to escape.” Belladonna guessed. 

Vincent nodded. 

“But it’s been years since we’ve even heard anything about the underworld or Shadow Knights in general.” Adonis pointed out. Belladonna and Katelyn looked at each other, they knew that somehow they had something to do with this. 

“Well that obviously doesn’t matter, someone opened it and we need to get Cadenza to safety. Now Katelyn, come with me, take care of Adonis for me?” Vincent asked Belladonna as he and Katelyn started running away. 

“I will!” Belladonna waved goodbye. She turned towards Adonis “Are ready?” 

“Uh, yeah don’t you want to know who I am?” Adonis asked.

“Your name is Adonis, my name is Belladonna. There we know each other now.” She extended her hand to have Adonis shake. 

The guard flinched back “I’m sorry I-I can’t… touch… women.” 

Belladonna knew why Adonis couldn’t touch women or why he didn’t like women near him so she didn’t want to press further “We need to find Cadenza, let’s go.” 

“Okay!” Adonis followed Belladonna down the hill. She found out fairly quickly that Adonis was very much a ‘yes man’. He followed Belladonna’s every step and if she asked a question about where they should go he asked her he would do what she wanted to do, she couldn’t make every decision because she wanted Adonis to make one wrong turn so everything didn’t go perfectly, everything couldn’t go perfectly or a set of domino events would fall and make someone end up dying. He did end up making a wrong turn and putting them deeper into the forest but he almost had a complete panic attack so Belladonna just accepted her fate and led the poor guard the entire way to a campsite with two dead bandits laying on the floor. Blood was splattered everywhere and the tent that they were staying in was broken and fell on itself. The bandit’s faces were terribly mutilated and their bodies were twisted in horrifying ways. Adonis almost threw up from the amount of blood but he was able to tell Belladonna that the bodies were fresh. She knew where exactly the Shadow Souls were coming from. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed Adonis’ hand and dragged him to where the Shadow Souls were now, Cadenza was on a black and white altar passed out while the Shadow Souls were dancing around her. 

It didn’t take them long to get to the ritual site but Adonis held Belladonna back behind a tree. 

“We need a plan,” Adonis whispered. 

“Well, you don’t like touching women so… would you want to attack and I can get Cadenza?” Belladonna asked. 

Adonis shook his head “I couldn’t ever take those things one on one.” 

“You seemed so confident earlier though?” Belladonna asked. 

“Well, I was with someone, Laurance to be exact,” Adonis answered. 

“So you want to get Cadenza and I can attack? What about the whole touching women thing?” Belladonna asked. 

“I know Cadenza won’t do anything. I’ve known her for too long for her to have evil intentions with me.” Adonis answered. 

“Okay well, I’ll distract and attack and you go around the side or something and get Cadenza away from there okay?” Belladonna confirmed the plan. 

Adonis nodded “Yeah, that’s cool.” 

“Okay…. GO!” Belladonna turned into a bunny and ran towards the Shadow Souls. Adonis was caught off guard but quickly ran to the side to enter the side of the ritual area. Once Belladonna was in the middle of the Shadow Souls she turned back into her normal form and started to attack all of them. She killed most of them before Adonis grabbed the passed-out Cadenza off the altar and ran off with her into the mountains heading towards the village. 

Belladonna thought all of them were gone until her hair was snatched and pulled down to the ground, the screaming of the demon made her ears want to bleed. Belladonna couldn’t move her arms as the demon stood over her, they opened their mouth and started moving their head closer to Belladonna. 

A sword drove itself through the Shadow Souls’ head making it scream out in pain before disintegrating into the air. Belladonna quickly stood up, breathing heavily while rubbing her rabbit ears trying to soothe the pain. 

“You’re a fool to take on those Shadow Souls alone.” A man said to the left of Belladonna. 

She turned her head, Vincent was walking towards her to grab his sword. His eyes were glowing red and he was emitting darkness and loneliness that made Belladonna feel sick, he smelled like the blood which was the weirdest thing to her. 

“You’re a Shadow Knight, huh?” She asked, she found this out last night when she was sleeping. 

Vincent nodded “Now, is Cadenza safe?” he asked. 

“Yeah, Adonis took her to the village I hope.” 

“Good, these things are not something you should be fighting alone,” Vincent said, putting his sword in his sheath. 

Belladonna sighed “I can take care of myself thank you very much.” 

“I bet you can.” He winked. 

She held up her hand “Still married dude, I am  _ still _ married.” 

Vincent nodded with a dramatic frown “I forgot sorry.” 

“How can you forget that someone is married?” Belladonna asked as the two walked towards the ritual site. 

Vincent shrugged “I don’t know, you just don’t look married.”

“How is a married person supposed to look?” 

“I-”

“Answer carefully, your life depends on it.” 

Vincent pursed his lips before changing the subject “We need to break the portal, do you have anything to do that with?” 

Belladonna looked at the portal, more really inspected it. She found a crack in the framing of the portal and placed her hands on top of each other on top onto the crack, she pushed quickly and hard onto the crack making the crack bigger and spread more out into the rest of the frame giving her the ability to punched the framing of the altar and it all crumbled at the pair's feet. 

Vincent shrugged “Huh, I mean that’s one way to do it.”

“Where do you think Cadenza is? Do you guys have a hospital or something?” Belladonna asked. 

“Yeah we do, Adonis probably took her there. I told Katelyn to go back to the village because I saw Adonis running away with Cadenza in his arms.” Vincent answered. 

“Okay, then I suggest we go there,” Belladonna said. 

Katelyn, Vincent, Adonis, Zack, Belladonna, Aphmau, and Laurance were all sitting in chairs waiting for a doctor to come out of the room Cadenza was in to tell them any type of news, good or not.

Kitten was still asleep, Emmalyn and Kenmur were already at the library researching mediums, Shadow Souls, and the underworld, and the stranger was absolutely nowhere to be seen. 

“I just want to know what exactly were those  _ demons _ that attacked our village.” Zack was the first one to speak after everyone entered the hospital. 

“Well, I want to know how the fuck Vincent here knows about Shadow Souls,” Laurance said. 

“Why don’t you care that Belladonna knows huh?” Vincent asked. 

“Because I  _ know _ Belladonna, she’s basically a scholar with the knowledge she knows but the only other people that know  _ what _ Shadow Souls are, are-” 

“Shadow Knights.” Vincent cut Laurance off. “Well guess what your suspicions are right, I’m a Shadow Knight. I know you are one too.” 

Laurance scrunched up his face “I knew there was something off about you, I didn’t want to say anything in front of Cadenza.” 

Zack put his hand out towards Laurance in a ‘stop’ motion “Calm down. He’s managed to gain full control of himself and he hasn’t caused any issues since I’ve known him.” He was sitting in between the two and he really did not want to be in the middle of this. 

“Explain the eyes, hm? Shadow Knights get those eyes when we kill the person most valuable to us, guess you didn’t want to hide anything huh?” Laurance asked. 

“Didn’t Sasha kill her lord? Her eyes are purple.” Aphmau pointed out.

“Shadow Knights can hide it if they want, to not draw attention,” Laurance answered. 

Vincent sighed “I killed my previous lord to obtain these eyes long before you were born. Explain yours.” 

“I phased through realms and was blind once. You?” 

“Vincent you seriously don’t have to talk about it-” 

Laurance cut off Zack “No I want to hear this.” 

“Look kid, I have my immortality, I’m not ashamed to say that. The lord I killed to get it deserved it. He was a horrible person, to his people and killed innocent people. You best know your place before you start talking you, premature Shadow Knight-” Laurance pushed Zack’s head down and climbed behind him at lightning speed to smash Vincent’s head into the wall while shocking him viciously.

Everyone quickly stood up to stare at the scene and try and stop anything if it went wrong besides Zack who froze in his spot as Laurance’s leg was still on him. 

“Don’t test me. I will rip you to  _ shreds _ … I know exactly the kind of scum you are. I also know you made a move on my lady.” Laurance’s face was threateningly close to Vincent’s. 

Aphmau slightly cringed, she didn’t know why Laurance was so mad but now she especially regretted telling him her first interaction with Vincent. 

Vincent let out a small huff of a laugh, Laurance was gripping so hard onto his neck it was hard for him to talk “If she’s your woman then where’s her ring? I don’t see one, she’s free game…” He smirked “you fucking demon.” 

Laurance threw up his fist “I WILL FUCKING-” his fist was caught by a rough calloused hand. He turned his head, Katelyn was standing there holding Laurance’s fist back with a face of anger. 

“Outside. Now.” Katelyn ordered.

“Excuse me?” Laurance asked, letting his fist fall. 

“If Vincent were a bad guy wouldn’t we know by now?” She asked. 

Laurance looked around, everyone was staring in fear at Vincent’s now bleeding head and Laurance's horrifying grip on the man’s neck. Zack looked like he was about to cry from how shocked he was. Laurance looked back at Vincent, his breathing was becoming slower and the paleness in his face was slowly turning a light blue. Laurance sighed and let go of Vincent’s neck letting him breathe, he got off of Zack’s back and stood in front of Katelyn. 

“You know just because you're an ex-Jury of Nine doesn’t mean anything to me.” He snapped. 

“Just because you are a Shadow Knight doesn't me shit to me. Now outside.” Katelyn clapped back, turning around and walking away. 

Zack stood up and brushed himself off “I’ll come to explain Vincent’s story if that’s okay?” He asked his friend. 

Vincent nodded, rubbing his neck and touching his head lightly. 

Zack nodded, and lightly pushed Laurance’s shoulder to get him to follow Katelyn and him. Everything was quiet as Zack and Laurance walked out the hallway and out of the hospital to find Katelyn waiting for them. Vincent stood up with the help of Aphmau, she looked at the back of his head to see the damage that Laurance had done, it wasn’t as bad as she expected but he was bleeding. His neck was a light red which was obviously going to happen from how hard Laurance was choking him. 

“You guys got one hotheaded Shadow Knight there,” Vincent told the ladies. 

“He went through a lot.” Aphmau said, “He doesn’t really like to be reminded of the pain he went through.” 

“Also with the realm phasing and the blindness, he also had a few friends in the underworld that he knew. He has very strong willpower, I truly think that he went through the worst of it.” Belladonna added, she remembered having a dream one night and seeing what exactly Laurance went through. It was up there on the most disgusting things she had ever seen, the torture and pain that he went through made her skin crawl every time she remembered it, the amount of blood and screaming and just gross shit was insane. 

“You think I know that? I went through the same torture he did a long time ago.” Vincent answered. 

“Maybe… maybe,” Belladonna muttered to herself, trying to hold back the vomit in her mouth from remembering what happened to Laurance. She wasn’t surprised when she saw Laurance crying every single night after coming back when he snapped at Aphmau, why he closed himself off about it… why would you ever want to talk about something like that. 

“Would you mind telling the story?” Aphmau asked, “You obviously don’t have to.” Aphmau’s arms were no longer around Vincent’s. 

Vincent shrugged “I mean Zack is probably out there telling the same thing so it doesn’t really matter…. I became a Shadow Knight over a hundred years ago. Back then I was serving a Lord who was  _ very _ questionable however, he was my brother. He had his quirks about him in the fact that he always thought of himself, one day he was kidnapped and tossed into the underworld by our rival lord. I went in to get him and we were successful in his recuse, however… I was quickly killed and taken into the depths of the underworld where I became a Shadow Knight. 

Some years later, I managed to break free from Hell and return to this mortal world. When I returned my brother had become a glutton, a selfish man far different from the brother I once knew. He declared war on any village he could and made examples of women and children to get villages on his side. I was ashamed of him. So, I chose to end his reign of terror and bring peace to the land. Since I still felt close to them, this action granted me my immortality. I don’t know why I didn’t go insane after gaining this power… I just didn’t. I’ve been like this ever since and have yet to lose control of myself.” 

Belladonna and Aphmau were silent, taking in everything that Vincent said. Belladonna was the first one to speak after the whole story. 

“That’s… I’m sorry.” Belladonna said. 

Vincent shrugged “It was so long ago it barely phases me now, I’m happy with my decision and I’m not ashamed of it.” 

“That’s just insane. But thank you for being vulnerable and telling us that.” Aphmau told the man “It’s very comforting to know you trust us.” 

Vincent nodded “And Belladonna, Zack, and I were talking… we have decided to agree to join the Phoenix Alliance. Especially since those Shadow Souls have risen.” Vincent shivered. 

“What are those things anyway? I was asleep during this whole thing so I wasn’t able to tell what they were.” Aphmau asked. 

“They are the demonic and non-physical forms of Shadow Knights after they themselves have died. Shadow Knights go through three stages: premature, mature, and Shadow Souls after the Shadow Soul dies then that Shadow Knight is gone forever and can’t be messed with again. Of course, the Shadow Soul can possess people to find a host but they were really just there to cause chaos. They are the first monsters to escape from Hell once it’s been open which means A. a portal to hell has been opened and B. those Shadow Souls are looking for bodies to possess to gain back their physical form.” Belladonna explained. 

“Holy Irene! How do we stop these things?” Aphmau asked in fear, she didn’t want the first village to join their alliance to be overcome with demon things. 

“Unless we can locate the portal to Hell that was open, we have no way of stopping it. Me and Belladonna found one but there could be many letting these things into our world. We just have to build out village defenses as best we can and not allow anyone to travel alone at night. We set a curfew for people to be in their homes. The Shadow doesn’t particularly like light but will stand it just to get a body and they are stronger if they are facing only one opponent, more than one and they’ll have a difficult time.” Vincent explained “We also probably aren’t the only village that was attacked. I better start preparing the guards for how to fight these things.”

While fighting the Shadow Souls Belladonna knew that the guards in Phoenix Drop were fighting the Shadow Souls as well… Aphmau didn’t know that. 

“Wait, what?” Her heart rate skyrocketed. “ _ More _ villages were attacked!?” 

“I mean most likely. These things can find their way through the world very fast.” Vincent answered. 

Aphmau gasped “My boys.” She whispered before sprinting out of the hospital, Belladonna called out after the woman and ran after her. 

Vincent stood alone in the hospital hallway sighing to himself and going to sit in one of the chairs along the wall to wait for the doctor that was going to tell him if Cadenza was okay or not. 

Belladonna grabbed Aphmau’s hand and jerked her back just as she was about to open the hospital door. Aphmau turned towards Belladonna with an angry face. 

“What are you doing!? I need to go to Phoenix Drop!” Aphmau yelled

“No you don’t, it took us three days to get here and it will take you three days to get back.” Belladonna lectured. 

“Belladonna please, I’ll ride through the night and try to get there as fast as I can. Please I just need to go.” Aphmau pleaded. 

“Did you not listen to Vincent at all!? It’s a bad thing to go out at night and I don’t want to risk you getting hurt or worse  _ killed _ !” Belladonna snapped. 

Aphmau looked into Belladonna’s eyes “Please…” She whispered. 

Belladonna thought for a moment, she usually would never do this, usually, she wasn’t so weak-minded, usually, she would turn this down but… she couldn’t. She knew what was happening in Phoenix Drop right now, everyone was safe and sound, having a meeting about what the fuck just happened to them, nothing wrong but she knew that Aphmau didn’t know that. She couldn’t tell Aphmau that but she also couldn’t tell Aphmau that she couldn’t tell her something, it would just be a big mess. She knew that if she held Aphmau back and forced her not to go then she would be mad at her and probably never listen to her again so… she told her. 

“There’s a shortcut to get to Phoenix Drop through the woods, I will not be letting you go alone so I will be guiding this trip,” Belladonna instructed. 

Aphmau’s eyes lit up “Are you being serious?” 

“Dead.” 

Aphmau cheered “Thank you!” She screeched before quickly dragging Belladonna out of the hospital and to the stables where they had kept their horses. Belladonna and Aphmau quickly got on their desired horse and set out to Phoenix Drop through the shortcut Belladonna was talking about. 

Belladonna didn’t stop at all or take any breaks during the five hours ride which both of them were falling asleep on. Belladonna hadn’t slept at all and Aphmau had only slept a little so by the time they were both at the gates of Phoenix Drop they were basically falling asleep. They slide to a stop at the gates. 

“Hello!” Belladonna called out “Is anyone there!?” 

Alexis rushed to the edge of the watchtower “What are you guys doing here? We weren’t expecting you back for a few days! Hold on!” Alexis yelled down. The guard ran down and opened the gate for Belladonna and Kitten to go through. 

Belladonna and Aphmau rode into the village and stopped once more to speak to Alexis who looked more than worried. 

“Where is everyone else? Are you guys okay?” She asked. 

“We’re fine!” Aphmau answered, “Is everyone here okay?” 

Alexis nodded “Yeah but we had an issue with some demon ghost outside of the gate earlier, be we made quick work of them. Thank goodness the walls were here or we might have been overwhelmed by them.” She answered. 

“Knew it.” Belladonna muttered, “What did they look like?” 

“Scary. They had bright yellow eyes and were dripping… oil. They were definitely made out of something dark from the  _ unnatural _ feeling that they emitted. They never made it past the wall though.” Alexis shivered. 

“I need to speak with Levin and Malachi,” Aphmau told Alexis. 

“They’re at their place having a meeting about the whole ordeal right now with Dante. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you. I’ll escort you if you want, Kyle is up on watch right now so I have a few minutes to spare.” Alexis said. 

“Then let’s go.” Belladonna smiled. 

Alexis guided Belladonna and Aphmau to the settlement that everyone was staying in. She knew that she didn’t  _ need _ to escort them but she said that it made her feel safer about everything because she didn’t want to risk the chance of one of those Shadow Souls somehow finding their way into the village and then attacking Belladonna and Aphmau. 

Alexis offered to take their horse and put it in their small stable for the time being while Belladonna and Aphmau stayed in the village for the time being. 

When Belladonna and Aphmau were walking to Levin and Malachi’s house they bumped into Dante. 

Dante gasped “Holy shit! Why are you guys here!?” He asked in shock. 

“We’re fine, we’re fine! Are  _ you _ okay though?” Aphmau asked while hugging Dante tightly. 

Dante pulled back “I’m perfectly fine.” Dante shook his head “I’m sorry I’m just a little shocked to see you too if I’m being honest. Where are the others?” Dante asked. 

“We came alone after we were attacked in New Meteli,” Aphmau answered. 

“ _ Attacked _ !?” Dante yelled. 

“We were attacked by what we’re hoping is the same things that you got attacked by,” Belladonna responded to Dante’s shock. 

“Those demonic creatures?” Dante confirmed Belladonna and Aphmau’s suspicions “Do you guys know what those are?”

Belladonna then went on to explain what the Shadow Souls were and how they worked.

“We managed to find and destroy their source thankfully but there might be more around,” Dante told the ladies. “This is so much worse than I thought, do you think it could be Zane?” 

Belladonna cringed as she felt Aphmau’s heart shatter “Zane is still in the Irene Dimension… with Garroth.” 

“Oh right.” Dante cringed as well at his mistake “I totally forgot I’m so sorry.” He looked down in shame. 

“It’s fine, really,” Aphmau reassured. 

“I know you can protect yourself and all but can you please stay with Laurance? He’s the only leading guard that has actually stayed with you, I know that I am no longer your guard but now your sons but… I still feel like I have a duty to you. I just don’t want your life in danger, I went without you for fifteen years I don’t want you to go missing permanently.” Dante held Aphmau’s hand. 

Aphmau smiled softly “I’ll try my hardest not to kill myself.” Aphmau joked. 

Dante laughed “You are my sister, remember that. You’ve always been like family to me when I lost mine and… just please don’t forget about me.” 

“I would never,” Aphmau answered quickly, she knew the troubles Dante had with people forgetting him… she never wanted him to feel that way because of her.

“Good.” Dante let go of her hands “Now I need to go see my partner and daughter. I know they must be worried sick about me after what happened tonight and I just want to hold them right now. You should do the same with Levin and Malachi.” 

“Goodnight Dante,” Aphmau said her goodbyes. 

“Have a nice night Dante.” Belladonna waved goodbye. Belladonna then told Aphmau that she was going to find Zoey who was most likely in the tree and that she could talk to Levin and Malachi herself, she knew that Aphmau probably needed help with Malachi translation but she wanted Aphmau to figure that for herself so she could learn more.

Aphmau and Belladonna split up, Aphmau heading to the house, and Belladonna heading to the large tree that took up most of the settlement. Aphmau opened the door and spotted Malachi sitting on the couch rubbing his temples out of frustration. 

Aphmau made herself visible and went over to Malachi to hug him tightly. He asked her what he was doing here so late and she quickly answered. 

“ _ So those things are called Shadow Souls? What do these people want by letting these things into our world? They’ll only end up releasing the Shadow Lord. _ ” Malachi signed angrily. 

Aphmau pointed her finger “That’s exactly what they want to do, the more bodies and chaos they have the more power the Shadow Lord gets.”

“ _ That’s stupid. _ ” 

Aphmau laughed “Yeah it is. How did you guys manage to stop the Shadow Souls?” She asked. 

“ _ It was mostly the wall, we would’ve completely been killed if we didn’t have that if I’m honest. We were able to pick them off one by one with arrows, it got to the point where we were able to get out into the open and find where they were coming from, _ ” Malachi explained. 

“Oh wow, back in Meteli it wasn’t too terrible but from what I heard from Belladonna and Katelyn there were dozens,” Aphmau said.

Malachi nodded and looked at the time “ _ Oh, I need to go do something with Kyle that we do every morning. Love you, mom. _ ” Malachi hugged his mother. 

“Okay, don’t be gross!” Aphmau fake scolded her son. 

Malachi rolled his eyes before exiting the house with Aphmau laughing. Aphmau went up the stairs to see if Levin was in his room, she walked down the hallway and quietly entered the room with the word “Levin” on it. Levin was asleep on his bed under the covers looking ever so calm. She softly walked over to the boy, making sure she didn’t step on any creaks on the floor so she didn’t bother the beautiful boy in front of her. 

His face was scrunched up, he seemed as if he was having trouble sleeping. Aphmau looked around the room, trying to find anything that would possibly soothe him, the music box that she had been gifted such a long time ago caught her eyes. It sat on Levin’s shelf, a thin layer of dust was covering the box making her hands slightly dirty when she touched it. She opened the box and brought it over to Levin’s bed, turning the crank ever so softly to not wake Levin up. She set the box down and let go of the crank, the soft sound of lullaby music filled the room, it was almost on command that Levin’s face softened up and he began softly snoring. 

Aphmau yawned, the music box always made her sleepy, she sat down against the wall that the bed frame was on and closed her eyes. She forgot about all her troubles and just let her ears fill with the sounds of the music box and her heartbeat. 

  
  


Aphmau woke up to soft tapping on her shoulder, she was surprised when she opened her eyes that she wasn’t back in that strange dream with Garroth. Instead, Alexis was crouching in front of her with a soft smile with her hand on the woman’s shoulder. 

Aphmau grumbled and rubbed her eyes “Hello, Alexis… where am I?” 

Alexis giggled “You’re in Levin’s room, you and Belladonna came here last night and you then fell asleep in Levin’s room. He wanted to put you in his bed but he also didn’t want to bother you so he put a blanket on you.” She lazily pointed to the quilted blanket laying on Aphmau’s legs since she shook it off her shoulder. 

“Oh okay.” Aphmau sat up straight “So what are  _ you _ doing here?” She asked. 

“Malachi called me over to see if I could watch over you and I came up here now because I wanted to tell you breakfast is done.” Alexis smiled and held out her hand for Aphmau to grab. 

Without saying another word Aphmau grabbed Alexis’ hand where she then pulled her up to stand up straight. Aphmau and Alexis walked out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen where a plate of food with a cup of coffee was placed on the dining table. The sun was shining brightly into the kitchen where bits of dust could be seen floating about, from the clock on the wall to the side of her it looked like it was close to mid-day which made sense from how she stayed up for most of the night. Alexis apologized for the semi-burnt eggs since she doesn’t really do housework. 

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Aphmau brushed it off “As long as it’s edible!” She said, taking a bit from the food. 

Alexis smiled “Thank you, I hope I can learn to cook better for my crush.” Alexis said.

Aphmau gasped and Alexis’ eyes widened as she slapped a hand over her mouth “You need to tell me.” Aphmau demanded. 

“Did I just say that out… loouudd?” Alexis asked in complete shock, her hand still over her mouth. 

“You need to tell me who, right now.” Aphmau turned towards Alexis with a smile. 

Alexis gasped and fanned her face with her hands “WHAT NO!? I COULD NEVER! FORGET I SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THAT!” Her face was a bright red and she covered her face. 

Aphmau waved her hands “Okay, okay, okay you don’t have to talk about it. Just know that I’m here to talk if you need to.” Aphmau went back to eating her food. 

Alexis looked through her fingers to look at Aphmau who was acting as nothing had happened, her face was still bright red as she slowly lowered her hands from her face. She took a deep breath and quickly sat down in a chair next to Aphmau. 

“Okay, I need to talk about this!” She yelled, slamming her hands down in excitement scaring Aphmau “I’m not going to tell you  _ who _ but I will just tell you that they’re someone in town, obviously, they are handsome, thoughtful, and just ugh! My heart just wants to explode thinking about them!” 

Aphmau squealed and flapped her hands in excitement “Well, do you talk to them, or  _ have _ you talked to them?” 

Alexis nodded violently “Of course! I talk to them every day but I always put my feelings aside so I can do my guard duties… It's like putting up a front. It’s only when I have a moment to myself that I start thinking all lovey-dovey about them.” She went quiet for a moment “Have you ever felt this way about someone? If you do… how do you deal with it?” 

Aphmau’s mouth went agape as she thought about the two men in her life that played tug-of-war with her heart. It wasn’t the moments by herself that got her thinking about them it was the moments alone  _ with _ them that got her thinking about her feelings towards them. The day that she confessed her feelings to Laurance they were alone, the first time she felt actual romantic love with Garroth was when they were  _ alone _ building that stupid boat for her to sail into Bright Port. She had to be alone with someone to know that she truly loved them, when she had a crush on Donna she had small moments where she was alone with the older woman… Those were times when Aphmau’s heart was fast and her face got red. 

Aphmau softly laughed “Uh… you should tell me once you find the answer.” 

Alexis giggled, there was a certain sparkle in her eye that Aphmau remembered Donna having when she was with Logan… this girl was truly in love. “Can I come to talk to you when I need advice? Maybe that will help me build up the courage to tell you who I like and then maybe, maybe - I can take a step forward and tell them!” 

“Of course! You can always talk to me, whenever and wherever.” Aphmau told the girl. 

Alexis nodded “Thank you. Now’s I’ll let you eat in peace while I got clean up the kitchen so Levin and Malachi don’t murder me for making a mess.” She joked while getting out of the chair. 

Aphmau finished the rest of her food with Alexis cleaning the kitchen in the background. She kinda drifted off into space while she sat at the empty kitchen table, trying to remember everything that happened last night since she was so tired everything was a little blurry. After she finished her breakfast and put the plate and cup in the dishwasher, she set out and spotted the stranger sitting under a tree with Nekoette~Tan, Rollo, and Lello sitting around him. Donna was at the well pressing flowers for some reason. The stranger was nowhere to be found last night at New Meteli so maybe he ran away to Phoenix Drop but that would be that he somehow found the shortcut that Belladonna had shown Aphmau,  _ or _ that could mean that everyone else was also at Phoenix Drop now because in that short period of time everyone had come back. 

She went over to Donna to see what she was doing first, she didn’t want to bother the stranger right now even though she was really eager to know if everyone was back. Donna was happy to see Aphmau but also confused about why she was here, Aphmau just explained a quick summary of everything that happened last night. Donna told Aphmau that she was pressing flowers because she wanted to make a cool plate that would need pressed down flowers to make it flat which Aphmau thought was cool. 

“You know, I was a little wary of that man the children call ‘Mister’ at first but he’s been such a kind help. He even gave me advice on pressing flowers which I thought was neat.” Donna said. 

Aphmau nodded “He’s very closed off though, doesn’t really talk to anyone in our group.” 

“He’s still a hunk.”

Aphmau gasped “You can’t even see his face!?” 

“Why do I have to see his face to know the dude's a hunk?” Donna asked. 

“You have a husband!” 

“So?” 

Aphmau stood up and shook her head with disappointment “I don’t know why I talk to you sometimes.” 

“I don’t know why you’ve always believed that just because I’m married I can’t see other people’s attractiveness.” Donna retaliated. 

Aphmau walked away while waving her hands goodbye “I’m not talking to you!” All Donna did was bark out a laugh as Aphmau stepped next to the stranger who was holding a plastic teacup with imaginary tea in it. 

The man looked up at Aphmau “What are you doing here?” 

“I came here with Belladonna last night to check on everyone. What are  _ you _ doing here?” She asked, crossing her arms. 

“I left Meteli when those fiends attacked.” 

“So you abandoned us?” Aphmau’s arms fell, she was a little hurt at the fact that he so quickly left them. 

“Well, it sounds like you did the same thing.” The man responded. 

“I came here to check on people and everyone kinda knows where I am.” Aphmau rebutted. 

“I did the same, I came here to see if the children were okay. I did not leave because I was a coward. I was simply thinking ahead of everyone else.” The stranger had just a monotone voice that everything he said sounded like he was a complete ass.

“Oh.” Aphmau’s spirits lifted a bit, it was nice to know that the stranger somewhat cared about them “That’s very sweet, thank you.” 

“It wasn’t for you but, your welcome.” The man turned back to his fake tea party he was having with all the kids. Rollo and Lello looked up at the stranger with such awe, Aphmau could tell that they were dreaming of becoming him when they were older from the admiration in their eyes. Nekoette~Tan on the other hand just acted like this guy was no big deal, a family friend, another little kid that she had been playing with since forever, and that made Aphmau laugh to herself that someone as cute and adorable as Nekoette~Tan would befriend the mysterious and scary stranger. 

Aphmau looked out towards the settlement gates, she wondered where Levin, Malachi, and Dante were and wondered if they were doing something with the potential portal to hell that was letting the Shadow Souls into their realm. Malachi did tell her that they had destroyed their source but they also thought that they were most likely more, she knew that they were probably going to find that other portal. She decided to go out on her own and try and find another portal or maybe catch up with the boys, she had this feeling in her stomach that she was supposed to go out today but she didn’t exactly know why. Maybe she was secretly physic and this was her body’s way of telling her that she’ll find the person who lit the portal out there in the woods and then she can question them and ask them why they would do that. 

As she walked through the ruins of the village a random thought of Zenix popped into her head, what if Zenix was the one that lit those portals. She hadn’t heard anything from Zenix from anyone else in the village so for all she knew that poor boy could be dead… she remembered when she mentioned Sasha around Laurance last night she got this disgusting feeling in her stomach like when she met with a portal to hell for the first time. It was such a strange concept to her that there could be such a range of Shadow Knights, from the calm and collected ones who don’t let their terrible past define them and the ones who were practically insane and indulged in their terrible past only making their future worse… Vincent and Zenix. The moment where she found out that Zenix had betrayed her was such a clear memory in her head like she could relive it over and over again and it would never fade… she sometimes wished that memory would fade. She never liked laying away at night, staring into the ceiling, and remembering how Zenix tried to kill her for trying to rescue Lord Burt, she hoped that Lord Burt was doing okay. She really hoped that all her old lord friends were doing well, Burt, Luke, Borya… they were all pretty old though so she wouldn’t be so surprised if she found out they were dead, Hayden was dead after all and she acted surprised and hurt but deep down she knew once she found out she was fifteen years into the future that he was most likely dead. 

She was barely into the outside forest at this point, barely skimming the surface when the sound of whimpering made her snap her head towards the sound. She slowly moved towards the whimpering which slowly turned into barking which piqued Aphmau’s interest even more. When she turned a semi-corner she stood in front of a dead dog’s corpse with blood pooling all around it with a little brown puppy whimpering and barking at the dead body. Aphmau gasped as her heart immediately shattered into a million pieces as she stared at the horrific sight. She slowly went over to the puppy, putting her hand out for the poor baby to sniff and get used to so it wouldn’t bite Aphmau. It was hesitant at first, growling at the woman’s hand but slowly softened up and let the woman gently pet the fluffy black dog. Aphmau carefully picked the dog up and cradled it in her arms, blood was caked onto its fur in some places which told Aphmau that it had most likely been there when its parent died. She didn’t know what type of dog it was but all she knew was it was very fluffy, it was black, and it was slightly chubby. 

She crouched down and moved the fur around the older dog’s neck, finding a white collar with a heart-shaped tag attached to it reading: 

Luna ❤

Owner: Nathan Louis

At this moment she wished so hard that she knew a Nathan Louis but sadly no one came to mind. 

Aphmau looked down at the little puppy in her arms “I’ll keep you safe.” She whispered while standing up “I’ll keep you safe and make a proper burial for your mom.” 

As she walked out of the forest and back to the village a silver-haired woman with bright purple eyes and burn scars all over her body watched her from behind the trees, carving random symbols into the tree with her sharp nails.

Aphmau came home with the puppy, finding dog food from Logan and his merchant shop, and found out that the baby was a baby girl. Donna told her that her new little puppy looked like a Newfoundland dog which grew up to be 100 to 120 pounds since it’s a female. She still didn’t have a name for the puppy but she was just happy that she could have a dog again. 

Alexis came by the house to see the puppy, Alexis asked if Aphmau was keeping the dog, Aphmau said yes and her reasoning behind that was because back when she had all her other dogs she was so happy and she felt less alone in lonely situations… she just wants to never feel alone again like she has in the past few days since finding out she knew nothing about herself. Alexis just smiled and said that was a wonderful thing, she then asked Aphmau the name that she wanted to give the dog…. Aphmau was stumped, she wanted to give the dog a name relating to her mother but she also wanted it to be unique, she thought of Celestia or Celestial as a name but she felt that would be too generic as a name. She thought about the name Sappho who was a writer of mostly lesbian love, she thought of the name Anteros who was a minor divine of love but in the end, she realized that most of the names had to do with love so she finally settled on the name Amada which was the feminine Spanish name of love. 

When Aphmau told Alexis the name she didn’t really know what to think of it first, she thought the name was beautiful but that’s all she really knew what to say. She might’ve been too starstruck by the puppy to answer. Aphmau remembered how she promised that she would give that poor mother a proper burial instead of leaving her body to rot in the woods. Aphmau asked Alexis to watch over the puppy which she obviously agreed to and Aphmau went off to get supplies. She grabbed a shovel, a hammer, nails, a wooden sign that Logan had, and a black paint marker to write on the sign. It made her a little worried that this dog was most likely killed due to Shadow Souls so the knowledge of that with the little sounds that echoed through the forest didn’t help her anxiety. 

When she saw the dog’s dead body her heart just broke for a second time. She quickly wiped her eyes since she didn’t want to cry over a dog she didn’t even know. She laid out all of her stuff on the ground in front of her and started digging out the grave. The smell of the corpse started clogging up her nose and floating around the area as flies started making their home on the dog’s body. She was trying to stay calm during the whole ordeal but her heart was beating so fast there was no calming down. 

After carefully pushing the dog in the grave that she made and filled the hole she wrote on the wooden sign the dog’s name, her owner, her day of death, and how she was a great mother before stabbing the sign into the ground and standing at the foot of the grave. Even though she didn’t even know Luna for as long as Nathan probably did she still cried a little, knowing that if Nathan is still alive he’ll never know that his dog Luna was taken too soon. 

The air quickly turned cold and Aphmau’s skin was covered in goosebumps, a stick snapped to her right making her jump. She snatched her dagger from her boot and threw it in the direction of the sound, everything was such a blur she didn’t even know what she hit but when she went to go grab her dagger it was covered in black ash. She knew deep in her soul that a Shadow Soul had just tried to kill her, she made sure to check her surroundings once she picked up the dagger. Nothing was in her immediate sight but that didn’t allow her to put her guard down since it was strange that a ‘ghost’ was able to make a stick snap but they were also able to hurt people so Aphmau didn’t know if she still had something to worry about. 

When she turned to her right once more to see if she was safe she froze, in the tree in front of her stood the woman known as Sasha Abbot. She looked the same from when Aphmau last saw her all that time ago, she specifically remembered when she found out Sasha tried to murder her. Her blood boiled as the woman stood there so…  _ calm _ . 

“You bitch.” Aphmau muttered before charging at Sasha. 

The Shadow Knight yelped and drew her own sword, the two clashed with a  _ clank _ . Aphmau pushed her against a tree, grabbing the sword, and pulled his down and out of Sasha’s hand-making her own hand bleed from grabbing the blade of the sword but Aphmau didn’t care. She held her dagger to the woman’s throat with such anger. 

“Dear Shad!” Sasha wheezed “You’re a little feisty after all these years, huh?” 

“What are you doing here.” 

Sasha rolled her eyes “It isn’t obvious? A portal has opened and pandemonium will soon start as the beautiful Shadow Souls search out bodies and the Shadow Knights start killing more.” 

“Did you…?” Aphmau was questioning if Sasha sicked a Shadow Soul on Aphmau and if she killed Luna the dog. 

Sasha smirked “I killed the dog, I didn’t know about the Shadow Soul attacking you though.” 

“You son of a bitch!” Aphmau pressed the dagger closer to the woman’s throat making her suck in if she wanted to live a little longer. 

“What’s with the yelling!?” 

“You tried to kill me once! You tried to infiltrate my village! And now you killed an innocent dog!” Aphmau 

Sasha barked out a small laugh “You found out about that?” She was referring to the attempted murder and the potential betrayal “Look, that was a long time ago. I’ve changed.” 

“You killed a dog.” 

“I’ve changed.” 

Aphmau just wanted to slice the woman’s throat from how much pain she had caused Laurance and Kenmur for believing that they left her to die when that wasn’t the truth at all. She wanted to kill this woman so bad but she also wanted to see her squirm for as long as she could. 

“I don’t believe you.” Aphmau snapped. 

Sasha smiled lazily, she let out a breath and let her throat press against the dagger’s blade. The blade started cutting into the woman’s throat. Aphmau quickly got concerned and asked her what she was doing, without taking the blade off her neck. 

“Take me. I will do anything and everything to prove I’m on your side right now.” She gasped for breath “I have things I need to speak to you about.” 

Aphmau let the blade off Sasha’s neck but she just pulled his back “Kill me, do it, please. I want you to believe me.”

She continued to press down further and further. Aphmau snatched the blade away in concern, Sasha only stood there wheezing and gasping with a smile on her face, she wanted this and it was the strangest thing Aphmau had ever been apart of. 

Aphmau was breathing heavily “Why were you doing that!?” 

Sasha wheezed “I need your help. I just need your help, so please take me to wherever you keep prisoners and I’ll comply.” 

Aphmau stood there in complete shock not knowing what exactly to do. She didn’t know whether she should trust Sasha or kill her before she could gasp for another breath. She wanted to believe so hard that Sasha was telling the truth but it was the Shadow Knight part of Sasha that was holding Aphmau back, it was Sasha's past that was holding Aphmau back from trusting her. She took a deep breath and put her dagger back in her boot, not bothering to wipe off the blood, she put her hands out in front of her. 

“Fine, if you try anything, and I mean  _ anything _ , I will murder you in cold blood.” 

Sasha nodded while wiping the blood off her neck “Of course. I wouldn’t expect any less.” 

Sasha followed Aphmau as she grabbed her stuff and followed her all the way back to the gates of the village. 

When Kyle asked Aphmau who was walking with her Aphmau simply responded with ‘a friend’, Kyle didn’t ask any more questions so Sasha and Aphmau walked through the streets of Phoenix Drop with ease. It wasn’t until they started approaching the old guard station that Aphmau’s anxiety hiked up a bit, she didn’t know how run down the old guard station was but she hoped that it was still okay to hold people in, if not then she had to bring Sasha into the settlement and she didn’t feel entirely comfortable doing that. When Aphmau stood in front of the guard station Sasha cautiously asked her what she was doing but Aphmau just ignored Sasha, she grabbed the woman’s hand and dragged Sasha into the old building. 

Surprisingly there were still jail cells and a ring of keys on the wall, Aphmau didn’t know if the keys were new or old but she didn’t care. She opened up one of the least broken down jail cells, threw Sasha in it, closed the door and grabbed the ring of keys, and locked the jail cell. She didn’t want to deal with the girl right now and she just wanted to play with her new puppy Amada. She informed Sasha that she would be leaving her in the cell for the rest of the night which Sasha was strangely okay with, after telling the Shadow Knight Aphmau exited the building and walked all the way back to the village to continue her day like normal. 

Aphmau woke up bright and early the next morning just to interrogate Sasha or if Sasha was truly telling the truth, to have a  _ conversation _ with Sasha. She didn’t really tell anyone where she was going or who she was talking to because she didn’t want any fear to rise that a Shadow Knight had already exited the portal which meant that essentially the first wave of Hell was done and the second wave of Hell is just starting which would obviously scare a few people and Aphmau didn’t want that. She didn’t even tell Dante what she was doing, all she said was that she was going on a walk with her new dog, and of course, she brought her dog because right now it was the only thing keeping her from running to Sasha’s jail cell and cracking her head open and feeding the brain to the wolves in the wilderness.

She got a collar and leash for Amada but not a tag which Aphmau didn’t mind because she actually  _ wanted _ to tell everyone her dog’s name instead of just looking and never having to ask her. She had a cup of coffee in her hand and she was ready to face Sasha and her the possible murder attempt that she would commit on Aphmau if things went wrong. 

She entered the building and noticed Sasha sitting in the cell fiddling with her fingers, she looked like a normal girl for once, a girl who had a normal life, a normal past, who didn’t have evil intentions with everything she did, who just wanted to see her fiance and best friend again. Aphmau always knew that the Shadow Knights had such a terrible history but it hurt even more when you saw the little parts of the Shadow Knights that showed who they really used to be before they died. 

“Hello!” Aphmau greeted with a smile. She took a sip of her coffee before placing it down on the floor next to the jail cell. 

“Oh hello.” Sasha returned, looking at Aphmau. A soft smile was spread across her face “It was pretty lonely last night.” 

Aphmau nodded, unbuckling Amada’s leash from the collar to let the puppy roam free “I bet it was… did you get a good sleep?” 

“Hm? Oh no, I didn’t sleep.” 

Aphmau raised her eyebrows in confusion but she just shrugged it off, Shadow Knights weren’t normal people why would they do normal people things. Aphmau went and stood in front of the jail cell “So… you want to talk to me?” 

Sasha nodded “How’s your son?” Sasha asked “The blonde one.” 

“He’s good but I don’t see how that matters.” 

“He’s just so grown up, for so long we wanted his stupid fucking ass. He’s in Lady Irene’s bloodline and his blood… dear gods, the number of  _ powerful _ potions we could’ve made with all that Irene blood.” 

A chill grew up Aphmau’s spin, the air was still and Aphmau wanted to throw up. How could someone think that way, how could someone be so cruel that they would want to kill a child, someone who wasn’t even a legal adult yet?

“What is wrong with you?” Aphmau asked, “What is the fuck is wrong with you?” 

Sasha just laughed, picking at the burn marks on her skin “Chill, chill, I don’t want to take his blood  _ right now _ . I’m here to talk because I want you to help stop what’s going on in Hell.” 

Aphmau shook her head and put her head in her hands “God why the fuck should I believe you?” 

“Hear me out…. A few days ago almost all of the portals to hell started glowing, we don't know why, we don’t know what happened, all we know is that after a little over fifteen years of being stuck in the dreaded place, we had hope. We could continue where we left off before in our mission to revive the Shadow Lord. Then he… then Zenix came out.” Sasha explained, she shivered with fear when she spouted Zenix’s name from her mouth. 

“Zenix!?” Aphmau had been thinking about Zenix the other day so Sasha’s whole reasoning for talking to her was because Zenix, made her feel like some sort of physic. 

Sasha nodded, she made herself a little more comfortable in the uncomfortable jail cell “He had amassed a power so patent, so  _ massive _ that he was able to overwhelm so many Shadow Knights. He… He like…  _ absorbed _ them or something.” Sasha’s voice had so much fear in it that Aphmau started to feel scared like Zenix was about to bust through the door “He was completely insane, gone even. Just before he could get to me I fled, a coward move I know but when you’ve just seen half of your friends get ruthlessly murdered by someone so insane I just… I couldn't take it. I have  _ no _ idea why he would murder his fellow Shadow Knights but he did… I wasn’t  _ too _ shocked though I mean… the last time we heard of him he had eaten his entire Shadow Knight patrol.” 

“Why are you telling me this? How could I help someone like… like  _ that _ ?” Aphmau asked, she truly didn’t know. She couldn’t just make Zenix believe in friendship again and convince him to stop killing everyone, from what she was hearing Zenix was long gone past the point of redemption and the pain that put on her heart was so immense. 

“I want to stop him, I don’t know how but I thought of you when I thought of someone stopping him. And I know deep down you really want to kill me but you would be a complete and utter  _ fool _ , this entire thing is going to affect the world in ways I can’t even imagine.” She took a shaky breath “I may be a Shadow Knight but there are people in Hell that I truly care about… that, dare I say,  _ love _ .” 

“I just… I don’t know how I could-” 

“Sasha!” A voice rang through the entire building, both the ladies snap their heads toward the voice. Laurance was frozen at the entrance of the building, his eyes were glossy and he looked so distraught. 

Sasha’s eyes widened but she kept quiet as Laurance practically had a small breakdown. 

“Why are you here? What are you doing here, I… you can’t... “ He sniffled, he was tearing up. 

Sasha’s face was a mix of sadness and disgust, Aphmau didn’t know if both or just one was for Laurance but she didn’t say a word, just muttering words that Aphmau couldn’t understand to herself. 

The door opened again to show Kenmur, he pushed Laurance aside to stare at the woman who was supposedly his dead fiance. 

This is when Sasha broke, Aphmau always knew that Sasha thought that everyone who went with her to rescue possibly either Castor or their old lord Joh had left her to die and hadn’t even tried to help. Aphmau was pretty sure she had never told Laurance about this, she didn't know if she should. How would you tell someone something so devastating like that? 

Sasha began cursing the boys out, calling them traitors, how she never loved Kenmur, how she wished she never had mentored Laurance, and how she wished he could rot and burn in the lake of lava just as she did. While all this yelling from Sasha was happening, Kenmur was having a mental breakdown over the fact that he never knew that Sasha was back, that she had to be fake because the real Sasha had died, died in Hell in the lava lakes surrounding the fortress that held the Shadow Lord. 

Aphmau was not only shocked by Kenmur having a mental breakdown and Sasha’s screaming but the fact that both Kenmur and Laurance were in Phoenix Drop when she had sworn she left them back in New Meteli. She quickly picked up Amada and began to push Laurance and Kenmur out of the building, she forgot about her coffee cup because all she cared about was getting everyone to calm down. She closed the door to the guard station, leaving Sasha alone with her screaming and Kenmur to fall on the floor rocking back and forth questioning his own sanity. Laurance wasn’t as bad but he was still pretty distraught about the fact that Sasha was back and the things that Sasha had said about him. No one was near to help them so the only thing Aphmau could do was tell them that they need to go to the settlement if they wanted to go anything done and calm down, since Laurance was a little less hysteric he and Aphmau helped drag Kenmur to the settlement where Laurance brought Kenmur to the tree where everyone else was while Aphmau got stopped by Dante wondering what was going on. 

She quickly explained everything that had happened since she met up with Sasha which she will say was a bit overwhelming for the old man but he got it sooner or later after Aphmau finished her summary of everything. 

“I remember Laurance telling me and Garroth about her, she’s done some pretty horrible things.” Dante said uncomfortably “Do you think she really wants to help us? I mean even after the whole fiasco that just happened.” 

Aphmau shrugged “I’m not sure, I mean she seemed willing but I think she’s just got some things wrong with her that made her react to Laurance and Kenmur like that.” 

Dante nodded, raking a hand through his hair. For the first time, Aphmau finally saw some grey streaks in the man's hair which was a little surprising as he was only in his 30s… it was probably the stress of everything that’s happened in his life for the past fifteen years. “Well, I just suggest that you go up there, tell everyone that you're okay because they were really worried about you and Belladonna, and then maybe talk to Laurance about this whole ordeal.” 

“ _ Everyone _ is here?” Aphmau asked, “How did they all get here?”

Dante shrugged “I think they just started riding as soon as you left but they didn’t get here as quickly which probably means that you guys took a different route.” 

Aphmau let out a small laugh “Yeah we did, we just wanted to get there as fast as we could…. I’m gonna head up, stay safe okay?” 

“I will.” 

Aphmau made her short journey up to the tree with Amada, where she climbed up the staircase and was met with basically everyone in her group that went to New Meteli besides Cadenza who Aphmau assumed was still in New Meteli. They all scolded her and told her that she and Belladonna shouldn’t have just left like that without telling anyone and that they were all really scared of what was going on and why they just left. They also awed over her new puppy and she let them hold and play with Amada while Aphmau went over to Laurance. Kenmur was being consoled by Emmalyn and Kitten so Aphmau didn’t have to deal with that but she did have to deal with Laurance and telling him everything that had happened when she first met Sasha after the time jump. 

She took Laurance over to the side for a little privacy, as she told Laurance of the whole situation he was kinda frozen, stuck in one place not sure how to take what Sasha was implying or just straight up telling them. After she was done telling him what Sasha had told her he took a deep breath, raking his hands through his hair. 

“Well if she is telling the truth then this is not something to take lightly, especially if she’s telling the truth about Zenix murdering a ton of Shadow Knights.” He said awkwardly. 

“I just don’t know why he would kill so many, why he would  _ eat _ his entire patrol, why he would kill people he knew…. It just doesn’t make sense.” Aphmau added. 

Laurance nodded “I wonder if he’s trying to single-handedly revive the Shadow Lord or possibly get revenge for the pain that those assholes caused him.” 

“Do you know what exactly happened with him?” 

Laurance shook his head “I don’t know what made him flip the switch in his head and what made him go insane, he was always an odd character when I was down there so maybe he’s always been like that?” He shrugged “He and Gene had like a leader rivalry, when it was well known that Zenix had killed his patrol members Gene declared him as a threat to our mission, he banished him without even seeing him for a second time after he entered the overworld.” 

Aphmau sighed “So do you think it’s worth keeping Sasha? I mean she can be very violent and she was after Levin’s life once so it makes me uneasy knowing that she could break out.” 

“Yeah… I do think that if she is willing to cooperate with us then yes, we should keep her but I do think we should find a way to make sure that she doesn’t hurt anyone while she’s here.”

Ideas raced through Aphmau’s head, she looked around her surroundings to see if anything would spark an idea. She spotted Zoey and a lightbulb went off in her head “Barrier magicks! Zoey, she could help us and hopefully but like a barrier around the guard station so that Sasha specifically can’t leave.” 

Laurance smiled “That’s good! That’s good! Can we bring her over here?” 

Aphmau shrugged “I wouldn’t see why not.” 

Laurance called Zoey over to where they were bringing Kitten with her because Kitten just wanted to see what they were talking about. Aphmau explained the whole situation to her with Kitten in the background adding some extra dialogue while holding Amada. 

“Oh wow, that’s… that’s a lot to deal with. Uh yeah, I could put a barrier around the guard station while also isolating Sasha, I’ll just need around five glow flowers and two strands of her hair.” Zoey paused before sighing and rolling her eyes “I totally forgot, I’ve run out of glow flowers and they are very important to the potency of this spell.” 

“Well, I can get them for you.” Aphmau volunteered. 

“Really? Thank you Aph, they only sprout for a limited period of time at night and you need a fae to kinda… bless the flower but faes can only really be caught with fairy bread which is something that not a lot of people make-” 

“Wait!” Kitten called out and dug through her pockets taking out a small plastic bag of colorful bread with rainbow sprinkles. “I have fairy bread! This kind lady gave it to me after I killed the rats in her house.” 

“She gave her fairy bread? When?” Aphmau asked in confusion as she had been there when Kitten killed those rats. 

“Oh like a little before the meeting you guys had, she wanted to thank me. So what do you need this for?” Kitten asked handing the baggie to Aphmau. 

“So you’ll need to set a trap, fees really like pretty things so get a box that looks pretty and set up just a normal trap that will trap them in that box. After you trap them you need them to bless a flower called Lily of the Valley because then they will turn into glow flowers.” Zoey explained after Aphmau put the baggie in her pocket, she still had her pajamas on but this one was a different set that had a more casual look to it. 

“Do you have a Lily of the Valley?” Aphmau asked. 

Zoey thought for a second before nodding “Yeah, why?” 

“Well maybe I can let Amada smell the flower and she’ll lead me in the direction with her snout!” Aphmau suggested, “Is that a good idea?” 

“I mean that’s a brilliant idea but Amada is still a puppy, you can try of course.” 

Aphmau nodded and carefully took the dog from Kitten’s arms. Zoey and Aphmau confirmed the plan and they split their separate ways afterward, Aphmau said a quick goodbye to everyone and started leaving the tree to head to Levin and Malachi’s house where Zoey stayed. Laurance followed behind Aphmau and told her to stop halfway through the walk to make her turn around and look at him. He took a deep breath before hugging Aphmau tightly, Aphmau was taken aback as the man snuggled a bit into her shoulder. 

“Don’t scare me like that again okay?” He asked quietly. 

Aphmau nodded. 

“I was really scared.” He pulled away and fixed Aphmau’s hair “I love you, so much.” 

Aphmau softly smiled “I love you too…. I should… I should go now.” 

The guard nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets as Aphmau finished the walk down the stairs. 

Aphmau’s heart was beating so fast she could hear it banging in her ears, her face was definitely red, and her hands were shaking. Amada knew something was wrong but she didn’t exactly know what to do besides snuggling up in Aphmau’s arms. Aphmau didn’t know why Laurance’s hug felt so… different? It was a different kind of hug and she felt a different kind of way after this hug, Laurance had hugged her a million times before but it had never felt like  _ this _ . She took a few deep breaths but that wasn’t helping her nerves at all, if she was being honest she just wanted to stay in Laurence's arms forever… just staging there not worrying about anything. Her skin tingled where Laurance had wrapped his arms around her, the crook in her neck felt hot as she imagined Laurance's head there. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t feel anything but tingles on her skin, she couldn’t even feel the air blowing past her, she could barely feel her hand as she raked it through her hair in frustration. All she heard was her heartbeat as she walked all the way to Levin and Malachi’s house, why was she feeling this way, why was this happening? Everything was so loud.

She quickly got the box that Zoey was talking about and the Lily of the Valley out of Zoey’s room which was in a downstairs area that Aphmau hadn’t found at first and took her a quick minute to find. After getting what she needed she went all the way outside of the gates of Phoenix Drop and let Amada get a good sniff of the flower before ever so delicately put it in her pocket. Amada took a second before she started barking in the direction that Aphmau needed to go to find more Lily of the Valley flowers. The entire trip Aphmau couldn’t stop thinking about Laurance, his soft voice, his hair, his eyes, his skin, his hands… Aphmau wanted to hold his hands so badly and just touch his hands. Her face was so hot,  _ she _ was so hot, her hands shook with anxiety as the blush only got worse as the image of Laurance in her head got closer and closer, his lips looked so soft with the adorable cupid bow that his top lip had. Luckily Amada’s bark was loud enough to let Aphmau hear her through the blood pumping Aphmau’s ears. 

Amada led Aphmau to a riverside where flowers that looked like the ones in Aphmau’s pocket were all over the place. Aphmau ignored the fact that there was warm light making the place a bit brighter when the sky above her was slowly getting darker, she also ignored the crackling of a fire that would indicate someone was here. Aphmau began setting up the trap and placing the old fairy bread in the trap when Amada started barking again, this time she was barking behind Aphmau. 

“Honey, I’ve already got the flowers you don’t need to lead me to more flowers,” Aphmau explained. 

“I don’t think she’s barking at the flowers.” 

Aphmau whipped around, the stranger was sitting in a type of camping area with a campfire in front of him. Aphmau almost screamed out of shock but she just gasped loudly “Dear Irene!” She yelled, “What are you doing here!?” 

“What are you doing here?” He replied. 

“I’m doing something with…  _ flowers _ ” She pointed to the flowers in front of her “Do you live here or something?” 

The stranger nodded. 

“Why? You’re so alone.” 

“I like being alone. Now, what are you doing with those flowers?” 

“I’m trying to get glow flowers, Zoey needs them for a barrier spell she’s doing,” Aphmau explained. 

“Oh, with the fae and all that? I heard about that ritual but I’ve never seen it in action, I’ve also never seen a fae.” The stranger answered. 

“Could I stay here so you can watch it happen and see a fae for the first time?” Aphmau asked. 

The stranger took a deep breath before nodding slowly. Aphmau finished the trap and then grabbed Amada to go sit next to the stranger while they waited to catch a fae. 

After a few minutes of silence Aphmau finally spoke to the man. 

“How come you don’t speak a ton?” 

“You should only speak when spoken to.” The man answered. 

Aphmau nodded “So did you choose the camp near these flowers or?” 

The man went quiet, uncomfortably quiet, before sighing “My deceased wife was named Lily.” Even under his red mask, Aphmau could see his sad eyes. 

“I’m so sorry, I bet she was as beautiful as the flower.” Aphmau apologized. 

The man cracked a small smile “When I asked her out I gave her a Lily of the Valley.” 

Aphmau’s heart melted at the sight of the man’s smile, it was strange and irregular as only the side of his mouth perked up, his teeth were also scarily sharp. “You enjoy talking about her, huh?” 

“Hm?” 

“You smiled.” 

“It’s just a nice memory I have.” The man answered. 

“That’s the first time you’ve ever really told anyone about yourself.” 

“I keep to myself.” 

“Why? You’ve lost so much yet you don’t talk to anyone, how do you deal with it?” Aphmau was in disbelief over this man’s coping mechanisms. 

“Being alone helps, my thoughts keep my company.” The man answered.

“I could never do that, I would be thinking about how I could’ve saved them, helped them, how I could’ve done anything in my power to make sure that what happened didn’t happen.” 

The man sat there in silence, waiting for the moment for Aphmau to realize what Aphmau just said was very insensitive.

Aphmau’s eyes widened “Oh my Irene, I’m so sorry. I was just saying that I would’ve never been able to do that I didn’t think.” 

“Hm, yeah you didn’t. I think about that a lot, it goes through my mind every day. Talking about it won’t change what happened though, no one needs to go through what I go through every day. No one needs to know me.” The man explained. 

“I’d like to know you, to become friends,” Aphmau replied. 

“Why?” 

“No one deserves to be that alone, to be stuck in this void of yourself.” 

The man went quiet, he took a shaky breath in and out. He lowered his hood and grabbed his red bandana that covered his eyes, he brought it down to his neck showing Aphmau his brown teary eyes, Aphmau was taken aback a bit but she knew that if she reacted a little too much he would probably retreat into his void. 

His eyes were teary as he said his name “My name… my name is Aaron… Aaron Lycan.” He nodded “My name is Aaron.” 

Aphmau smiled “Aaron is a very good name, I like it.” The conversation was cut off but the sound of something snapping. The two whipped their head to the side and saw the box that Aphmau had put the fairy bread in was now glowing a light pink. Aphmau gasped and quickly slid over to the box, inside the box was a brown little person with green bushy hair like a tree and pink flowers in their hair. They wore no clothes from what Aphmau saw but they were covered in a veil of pink, they were eating the fairy bread that Aphmau had put in it. Aphmau didn’t know exactly how to make the fae bless the flowers to make them turn into glow flowers but Aaron quickly told her that she just had to take the flowers and law them on top of the box where the fae will then touch them through the glass and turn them into glow flowers. Aphmau did as instructed and the Lily of the Valley flowers quickly transformed into glowing daisies which Aphmau thought was cool. 

She said her thanks to Aaron and they traded goodbyes. Aphmau let the fae go with the fairy bread, grabbed everything she needed, and headed back to the village. 

Since it was almost night Aphmau had to go to Zoey’s room in Levin and Malachi’s how to give her the glow flowers and the box back. Zoey was thankful and told Aphmau that she would get started on the spelling plan as quickly as she could so she could do it early in the morning since she still needed to go to bed. Aphmau said goodnight to Belladonna and Zoey who were sleeping in the same room like a normal married couple and made her way over to the tree where her travel group was staying besides Cadenza who seemed to be staying in New Meteli after Vincent and Zack agreed to let New Meteli join the alliance, Kitten had said that Cadenza had made it official and told her to tell Belladonna that they were apart of the Phoenix Alliance which Belladonna was obviously happy about. She felt a little bad for Katelyn, Cadenza and her seemed really close in the short days that they stayed there and Aphmau knew that Katelyn was hurting a bit from her distance from everyone. 

Laurance and the others had brought back Belladonna and Aphmau’s stuff so she could finally change out of her old clothes and get new ones because she was not staying in the old same pajamas forever. Before she went to sleep she got a little pillow from their box of extra pillows that Dante had given the group when they first got here and used it as a little doggie bed for Amadas to lay on if she didn’t want to sleep with Aphmau. Aphmau understood dogs from having so many back in her lordship days, they were very quick in their mood changes and some would change from Aphmau’s bed to outside, to Aphamau’s bed to outside like it was a loop they were stuck in at night. She wished everyone a good night's sleep and drifted off to bed. 

  
  


Aphmau was sitting with Garroth against the large tree that seemed to be the only significant part of this empty island realm. Aphmau had her right leg over Garroth’s left leg as she spent the last twenty minutes telling him everything that had happened since they got off the Irene portal, she didn’t waste time telling him the small details because she didn’t know how much time they had in this strange world that they were in. Throughout Aphmau’s rambles, Garroth sat and listened, sometimes turning his head to look down at Aphmau with sparkles in his eyes like he was captivated by her words even when they were so simple. Aphmau’s head leaned against his shoulder and every time she realized that she wouldn’t move her head, her face only got red which she knew Garroth could see. It was like when Laurance hugged her but instead of her skin tingling after he hugged her and only  _ where _ he hugged her, the tingling was everywhere, on her hands, her face, her lips, her thoughts even… it was bad. She truly wished she could stay like this forever and ever until she died. She hoped that she felt this content when she met her demise… maybe she would see Garroth.

After her word spillage, Garroth sat there in silence for a few moments before saying anything “It’s hard to believe fifteen years have gone by in the overworld.” 

Aphmau nodded “I’m sorry to talk your ear off about everything but… so much has happened in what seems like so little time.” 

“Do you think it will be long before I make it out of the Irene Dimension?” Garroth asked, turning his head towards Aphmau to look at her. 

Aphmau did the same “That depends, are you real or are you just someone in my dream?” 

Garroth scrunched up his eyebrows in thought “I  _ feel _ real? I guess?” He sighed “After our last encounter I went back into the Irene Dimension in the same place I was before, staring across from Zane with our sword in hand, and when I was about to move I… I saw a flash of white and I was here again.” 

“What do you think is causing this?” 

Garroth shrugged “I don’t know, sometimes I think that  _ you're _ a dream or maybe I’m just being punished by the things I should’ve done. I feel like I should've taken more time to know you more as a person rather than just protecting you as my lord. In a way, I’m a little jealous of Laurance, he was able to befriend you and make you laugh like that one time in the guard tower when you two were fighting over that table.” 

Aphmau held back a snort “Gods I remember that, I’m not sure who won that fight exactly.” She laughed. 

“I wish I had the chance to create fond memories like that with you. I wasn’t sure how to approach you so I just acted as your guard.” Garroth added, his voice was sad. 

“We’ve had fond moments together, the dance that we had at Donna’s wedding, that time that we built that boat, and that time that you and I played with Levin and Malachi in the treehouse. We’ve had plenty of fond moments.” Aphmau rebutted. 

Garroth huffed out a laugh “Yeah but those moments we weren’t alone… I wanted to be alone with you.” 

Aphmau’s breath cut, she didn’t know what to say to that. Garroth has made her pretty breathless with these visits “Well… we’re alone now, aren’t we?” 

“Eh, I mean yes but I fear that this is all a dream. You say you can only come here when you are asleep, like a dream. But even then… I’m sure you don’t come here every time you sleep.” 

Aphmau sighed and grabbed the guard’s hand ever so lightly “Just enjoy this time for what it is, if it is a dream or not our minds are still allowing us to have this time together.” Aphmau thought for a second “I propose this, from now on we don’t dwell or talk about the past. When I come here I'll tell you about what’s been happening and we can talk about that, alright?” She asked, turning to Garroth as she proposed this idea. 

Garroth thought for a minute, nodding his head from side to side lightly before finally agreeing on the idea “Sounds like a plan.” 

Aphmau “So… what do you want to talk about?” Aphmau laughed awkwardly. 

Garroth chuckled “Was  _ he _ good-looking?” Garroth asked.

“What!? Who?” 

“That stranger you talked about, what was his name… Aaron?” 

“What!? I don’t know? Why would you ask me that question, you literally could’ve asked me anything else!” Aphmau’s face got pink. 

Garroth’s chuckled, it was soft and teasing “I’m just curious, no harm.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and sighed “He was handsome-”

“More so than me?” 

Aphmau gasped and slapped the guard while he laughed maniacally “You are so rude, I, don’t you. I never liked you, you were always my least favorite.” 

Garroth clapped his hands “I just wanted to see your reaction! You look cute flustered.” He winked. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “You’re such a jerk.” 

Garroth just laughed, he faded in quietness. Furrowing his eyebrows a bit “You know, I was being serious when I said you need to find someone who deserves you. Don’t wait to give me chance just because I said I-” 

“Hey,” Aphmau put her hand on the man’s face “didn’t we just get done with talking about things in the past?” 

A loud bell rang through the world making Aphmau and Garroth jump in their seats, Aphmau knew what this meant. She would be waking up soon back in her treehouse and hopefully, Zoey would be ready to do the barrier spell or she already did it. Garroth smiled softly and kissed Aphmau’s forehead before everything turned white and she gasped awake, staring at the tree leaves of the treehouse. 

It was early morning, so early that the sun had barely risen over the horizon yet but people were still up. Laurance was putting on small amounts of armor that he could just slide over his body and Katelyn was drinking tea while looking out of a window. Aphmau grabbed her bag without saying anything and changed in the far corner of the treehouse, Laurance respected her privacy and didn’t turn around until she tapped on his shoulder. She asked him if he wanted to go with her and see Zoey put up the barrier for the guard station and he obviously agreed to go, the two walked down out of the tree and over to Levin and Malachi’s house where Zoey and Belladonna were exiting the house. Aphmau told them that they were ready to leave and they went off to the guard station, Belladonna was just there because she wanted to be with her wife which Aphmau thought was cute. She always wanted a relationship like Belladonna’s and Zoey’s which was nice. 

The spell or ritual that Zoey did was very strange to Aphmau as she’s never seen Zoey do her barrier magic before. She put the five glow flowers around the border of the guard station while stomping into the dirt with her boots, everytime she stomped on the ground her boots and the floor beneath her would glow. Soon when she made a full circle she backed up to look at the entire building and started muttering to herself while making symbols with her hands, when she was finished she blew air towards the building and made a pushing motion with her hands at the building. A barrier of sheer golden glow appeared around the building and immediately vanished. 

Zoey turned around with a smile, proud of her good work. “That should do it!” She put her hands on her hips. 

“How long will it last?” Laurance asked. 

“It should last for around a month or so, after that, I’ll either have to reinforce it with another potent spell or break it down and recreate a new one. As long as no one gives Sasha the means to create a counterspell, then it should be perfectly stable.” Zoey explained. 

“Should I have gathered some more glow flowers?” Aphmau asked. 

Zoey shook her head “Glow flowers don’t last long unless you are an expert botanist or a nature magicks user which I am not either so they would only last a few hours in my hands. We’ll just have to go look for another forest fae and repeat the process before the spell lets up.” 

“Thank you so much, Zoey.” Aphmau smiled. 

“There’s no need to thank me. I’m just doing my part to protect Phoenix Drop, even if it’s not as much.” 

“What!? It’s more than enough.” Belladonna argued, wrapping her arm around her wife’s shoulders. 

Zoey huffed out a laugh “Thank you, honey. Well, I guess we’ll leave you two alone to speak with Sasha since I know you guys want to talk to her.” 

Aphmau nodded “Zoey thank you so much for this, you’re doing us a huge favor, never think that you’re not doing enough.” 

“Sasha is a very powerful woman, I think if we didn’t have that barrier and she got mad she would have escaped at the speed of light.” Laurance complimented the woman. 

Zoey smiled softly “Thank you, that’s very nice of you. Have a nice day guys.” Zoey and Belladonna said their goodbyes and walked away from the guard station leaving Aphmau and Laurance to deal with Sasha alone. 

When Zoey and Belladonna were out of earshot Laurance tapped Aphmau’s shoulder to get her attention. “How are you feeling this morning?” He asked. 

Aphmau shrugged “I’m good.” 

“How was Garroth?” 

“Huh? How did you know I saw him?” Aphmau knew that Laurance was up already when she got up but she didn’t know that he was watching over her. 

“Your body disappeared last night while you slept,” Laurance answered. 

“You were watching me?” 

Laurance nodded “A good guard always sleeps with one eye open.” He seemed a bit tired so Aphmau knew that he wasn’t just keeping one eye open “Did he kiss you again?” 

Aphmau stammered, she didn’t know how to answer such a bold question… who knew that she would have to deal with that from both of the guys she was in love with. “We just… we just talked about what's been going on and he might’ve kissed my forehead.” 

“Hm, I caught you off guard huh?” He crossed his arms and smirked. 

“You always catch me off guard.” She smiled softly. She explained to Laurance what she and Garroth talked about, leaving out the more personal details for obvious reasons. 

“Heh, well it seems he’s getting more confident which is good - that is if it’s the real Garroth. I have no doubt it’s him though, the way you say he talked sounds like him…. Man, you think if I got to visit them in that dream realm he'd be so happy he’d kiss me too?” Laurance joked, posing to make himself seem more flattering. 

Aphmau laughed “Yes, Garroth is deathly in love with you. He talks about her all the time and how he wishes he could kiss you and love you and all that.” 

Laurance barked out a laugh “Of course he’d want to kiss me! I mean like who wouldn’t want to kiss this hunk of man?” He kissed his own hand like it was a dainty lady’s hand he was kissing. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “On second thought I lied, Garroth hates your guts.”

“Pfftt, not true. Fake.” 

“It’s not fake, he told me himself. ‘I hate Laurance so much it’s crazy.’” Aphmau mocked Garroth’s accent that he had. 

“Prove it,” Laurance said as he started walking into the guard station. 

“How can I prove it? It was in a dream?” 

“Dreams are fake, not real so that means whatever Garroth said was fake.” 

“I hate you.” Aphmau deadpanned, making her way over to Sasha’s cell. Aphmau was all awake now that she and Laurance had been joking around but her awakeness clashed with Sasha's tired attitude. 

“Good morning Sasha.” Laurance greeted kindly. 

“Hmph, I see you brought this dipshit.” Sasha stared coldly at the man she once called a friend. 

“Ouch,” Laurance muttered. 

Aphmau sighed “I want to talk about Gene, I know Dante would appreciate it if we learned something more about his brother.” 

“Gene has a brother in the overworld? I wasn’t aware of this.” Sasha pointed out in confusion. 

“Of course you wouldn’t be aware of that, all you did for him was be his fucking puppy.” Laurance snapped “I did not enjoy the noises coming from your room.” 

Sasha snorted “Yeah, you’ll never make pretty little Aphmau sound like that though.” 

“Oh.” 

Laurance’s face went red and flipped Sasha off. Sasha laughed at the man’s humility and Aphmau’s shocked face at what she said. 

“He was very powerful in the underworld and was proclaimed the ‘leader’ by basically everyone. He helped me see who Laurance and Kenmur truly were to me… traitors.” Sasha hissed the word ‘traitor’ like it was venom dripping out of her mouth. Aphmau knew that Laurance wanted to say something but he squeezed his fist to the point where Aphmau thought they were going to bleed and bit his tongue. “He was the best Shadow Knight there could be, he was cold and cruel. Laurance over here is soft and weak, that’s the difference between domesticated Shadow Knights and  _ true _ Shadow Knights.” 

Aphmau nodded, she acted like she was glad she got that pointless information “What about the Shadow Lord, with all the information I know about the underworld I surprisingly don’t know a lot about him.” 

“Ahh, the gracious Lord of Shadows yes…. Do you know of  _ The War of the Magi _ ?” Sasha asked. 

Aphmau had a familiar sense of that name deep in her bones, she knew that she knew things the other people didn’t like that one time she  _ especially _ remembers reading a book called Le Saint Divine about the Divine Warriors and learning  _ a lot _ about them but it went missing on the day and everyone seemingly forgot about it. She never knew where that book went or how everyone forgot about it, maybe Belladonna and Kitten had something to do with that. So maybe this War of the Magi was something she read in that book but now she’s forgotten about it like everyone else. She shook her head, that was the easiest answer to give even though it was the most confusing question for her. 

Sasha hummed “I would be surprised if you did know of it. It is a war that has sadly been lost to time in the overworld. I’m pretty sure the books were burned that talked about it - to prevent things from repeating… fools… burning their only source of answers.” 

“Answers?” 

Sasha cleared her throat and sat up straight “Allow me to tell you about the Shadow Lord and the War of the Magi. More than four thousand years ago, our Lord had arisen from the depths of Hell, from its dark shallow bit that lurks in the deep darks of our terrible world. He found a place in the overworld, a place his mortal body was once outcast by his fellow man. Now twisted and bent by the will of his hatred and the torture and cultivation of hell - he had become an all-powerful being. 

Once in the Overworld, he sought to rule overall. Of course, the mortal Kings at the time were not to stand for such a threat and went to war with our lord of Shadow and his army. The war continued for a century until… until  _ they _ appeared.” her body shivered at the mention of ‘they’. 

Aphmau tilted her head, she stayed quiet for Sasha to continue but she wondered why Sasha didn’t just say who appeared. 

“The Divine Warrior, those fuckers showed up…. Shad, Esmund, Enki, Irene, Menphia, and Kul’Zake… their stupid asses fucked everything up! They all rule over a region if you weren’t aware but with Ru’aun three Divines rule over this fucked up place, Irene Shad, and Kul’Zak, the rest rule over the others. All the Divine are equally or even  _ more _ powerful than your lovely Irene, they just saw her as a god… they didn’t know who the  _ real _ god was. 

Those wretched beings were able to rise against the Shadow Lord and with their power combined, destroyed his physical form and sent his essence back to Hell from where he came as well as his armies. But you see, the Shadow Lord isn’t just  _ one _ entity, not just  _ one _ being, he is a realm, a WORLD!” 

“Wait…” 

“Yes! The Shadow Lord  _ is _ Hell, he  _ is _ it! Through trial and tribulation, Hell finally got to make an entity of its own and possess a poor helpless soul that was lonely and was labeled a ‘villain’ by his home, exiled for helping them in their greatest time of need. As his  _ entity _ was ripped to shreds he’s gotten more people on his side, people who see the truth, and every day his grows stronger and stronger with the praise that we give him. I mean eons and eons ago he even got himself a host… temporary though as it fused with his real body… it fused with the realm itself.” Sasha cleared her throat “Anyways, the so called ‘Divine’ scattered his power and ‘essence’ all around the world, some put it into the weapons, books, ancient objects, and even places but they were to never be messed as bringing them together would bring  _ him _ together.” 

“Okay so… how does this tie into Zenix and what our objective is? I mean like there’s gotta be something that ties this all together, right?” Aphmau asked, somewhat getting tired of Sasha’s history lesson. 

“As Shadow Knights, we seek to revive the Shadow Lord and make him the rightful ruler by either sacrificing things, making his armies stronger or even trying to find the relics that have his power in them. Zenix, I fear, might be trying to do this alone.” Sasha’s gritted her teeth together “And if he is that  _ mad _ and if he is that  _ insane _ to attempt this… the Shadow Lord will have a physical form, but with the combined mind of Zenix and not  _ all _ of his followers…. He… He can’t do this! HE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE AND TAINT ALL THE WORK WE HAVE DONE ALL THESE YEARS!” 

“Sasha calm down,” Aphmau demanded, putting her hand out to see if her calming powers worked after consuming the Irene relic. 

“Calm down? You want me to calm down?” Sasha’s eyes turned void black “NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PAIN I WENT TO THROUGH TO OBTAIN THIS BODY BACK TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL AND NOW TO HAVE IT ALL RUINED BY SOME CHILD WHO THINK HE KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO SUFFER THIS MUCH! HOW DARE HE TRY TO CORRUPT THE MIND OF OUR LORD OF SHADOW WITH HIS! HE IS NOT WORTHY AND HE WILL PAY BY MY HANDS I WANT HIM GONE! I WANT HIM  **_DEAD_ ** !” Sasha gasped, her eyes turning purple again before she passed out against the concrete. Hitting her head against the floor making both Aphmau and Laurance jump. 

Aphmau whipped around, she had a face of regret “I’m so sorry, I just… I didn’t know she was going to go out so… violently.” 

“I think she might’ve gone out more violently if you didn’t stop her.” Laurance comforted Aphmau, patting her on the shoulder while staring at Sasha in pain. “Shadows Knights have this where when they get angry they can make really strong negative energy around them and those Shadow Souls attract to negative energy.”

“So uh… what do we uh… what do we do now?” Aphmau asked. “I mean we got the information we needed, and if it’s true that books have been burned containing information on the Shadow Lord and this War of the Magi then we should go to bigger villages or cities in this region to see if we can find any remains or anything that could help us.” 

“We could go to Scaleswind.” Laurance suggested, “That’s the biggest city I know of.” 

“Well we’ll need a boat or something to get there and we’ll need to prepare food and clothes and things like that. We already have a lot of stuff from our trip to New Meteli but I know that we’ll need more.” 

“Definitely, we can also use this to get Scaleswind on the Phoenix Alliance so we should have a meeting with Belladonna along with Levin and Malachi.” Laurance agreed. “We’ll also need to tell everyone else in our group about what we’re doing and if we can get a boat we need to know if they want to join us.” 

Aphmau turned around, Sasha was still passed out against the floor. Aphmau felt bad for pushing Sasha so hard and making her so forcefully pass out. “What do we do for her?” 

Laurance looked at Sasha with sad eyes, he sighed “We should leave the cell open, she should get to know that she can’t leave here and I don’t want her cramped up in that cell all the time.” 

Aphmau agreed and went over to get the keys, she picked them up and unlocked the cell making sure to carefully open the metal door so it didn’t squeak and possibly wake Sasha but with how hard she hit the ground Aphmau didn’t think that was going to happen anytime soon. 

The two quietly exited the guard station, making sure not to make any noise just in case Sasha did wake up against all odds. They quickly made their way back to the village, running as fast as they could and laughing the entire way, they felt free as they ran the short distance. The wind ran through their hair as Laurance started running back to look at Aphmau better which made her laugh harder, she almost tripped because she wasn’t paying attention but she quickly regained her balance again and they slid into the settlement. The sun was only barely half done being over the horizon but Aphmau and Laurance still stormed into the house scaring Belladonna and Zoey and the barely awake Levin and Malachi. Laurance and Aphmau informed everyone of what they wanted to and that they wanted to leave for Scaleswind. 

Laurance and Aphmau let Malachi and Levin wake up a little bit more before they had the meeting by talking to Belladonna about what they wanted to do and the reason they wanted to leave for Scaleswind. Aphmau didn’t really need to have an intense meeting with Levin and Malachi; she just wanted to possibly get their help and make sure that they were going to be okay with her leaving once again after being back in Phoenix Drop for such little time. Belladonna completely agreed with what they wanted to do and said that with such a big city on their side they can get much more villages, Belladonna was also okay with this trip being about Aphmau and defeating the Shadow Lord, she thought that it could really help them in the future from what Kitten says. 

After waking up a little bit more Malachi and Levin sat on the couch drinking their tea with Belladonna and Zoey standing behind them. Laurance and Aphmau informed them of their plan and how Aphmau just wanted to make sure that this was okay with them. 

“ _ Mom, of course, this is okay. If you think this is the best course of action for you to take then you have our full support. _ ” Malachi signed. 

“I agree, there’s not much you can do with your powers until you know about them. Also if Sasha really believes this Zenix person is out to control the Shadow Lord there must be someplace out there that has some kind of information on the Divine Warriors and the War. “ Levin added.

“We need to know how to defeat the Shadow Lord if Sasha’s prediction comes true. If we stay here and do nothing we’re basically digging our own graves.” Laurance explained. Everyone agreed with that. 

“Me and Malachi will prepare you a ship for you guys to make the first portion of your trip,” Levin said. “It’s the least we can do.” 

“That’d be great, please don’t go overboard though we just need a few things to let us survive hopefully a few weeks,” Aphmau warned. 

“ _ Of course, we should start making arrangements right away- _ ” Malachi got cut off by Belladonna telling him to hold on.

“How many people are coming with us, I don’t think everyone really wants to come with us for this long trip,” Belladonna asked. 

“Oh right, well how many people do you think are going to come with us?” Laurance asked. 

Belladonna nodded her head from side to side, thinking “Kitten, Katelyn, and Me.” She answered “The stranger, Emmalyn, and Kenmur have their own agendas with taking care of the village and each other. You should still ask though.” 

Malachi nodded “ _ Well we’ll prepare eight bags of food for a few weeks and then give them to the people coming, if everyone doesn’t come then we’ll have some bags left which will be good for us. We only have two boats, one of them being the O’Khasis ship that we sailed away in fifteen years ago… you guys can take that. _ ” 

“Really? You don’t have to do that.” Aphmau didn’t want Malachi and Levin to give them too much stuff and a ship that big for such little people was  _ way _ too much. 

“ _ It’s the least we can do, we don’t need it any way we don’t use it a lot, _ ” Malachi answered, not backing down away from giving Aphmau the O’Khasis ship. 

Laurance put his hand on Aphmau's shoulder and whispered into her ear making the hair on the back of her neck stand up “Just let them do this, they want to help their mom.” 

Aphmau sighed “Fine we’ll take the ship. Now that we’ve kinda confirmed our trip I suggest that we go ask everyone else in our group if they will join us.” The meeting faded to an end and Aphmau and Laurance said a quick goodbye to everyone before exiting the house. They agreed that they should also tell everyone else goodbye since they probably weren’t coming back for a while like their original plan back when they headed to New Meteli. That originally was supposed to be where their journey started but sadly they had to come back to Phoenix Drop because of the Shadow Souls. 

Aphmau looked around the village as she and Laurance walked out of the house, Aaron was laying down on one of the giant roots of the tree that created an arch to the pathway towards the tree, Logan was reading a book while sitting at his merchant booth, Kawaii~Chan was in the kitchen washing her hands and look down at the flowers outside the window above the sink, and the children of the village were playing tag and running around the entire place. Aphmau’s heart melted as the sun cast a warm glow around everyone at the time turned eight am. Everything was so nice and soft to her, everyone looked so peaceful and calm… she hoped that it stayed that way forever… she knew that it was going to stay that way forever because if it didn’t she didn’t know what she would do. Phoenix Drop couldn’t go through another war, another fight, any more deaths or stress. 

Aphmau and Laurance agreed to separate and ask everyone who was going to join them and who wasn’t. This is when Aphmau accidentally said Aaron’s name.

“Aaron? Who's Aaron?” Laurance furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

“I- … oh no.” Aphmau slapped a hand over her mouth “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” She whispered. 

“Who is that though?” Laurance asked, even more, confused than before. 

Aphmau sucked in a breath “The stranger.” 

It took a second for Laurance to process what Aphmau said. He gasped “No way!” He yelled “No way!” 

“Don’t say anything! Please dear god don’t say anything.” Aphmau pleaded “I really don’t want him knowing that I told you, he only told me and I don’t want him mad at me.” 

“I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.” Laurance nodded, putting his hands up in defeat “ … Do you know what he looks like?” 

Aphmau clicked her tongue, debating whether or not she tells Laurance that she saw the man’s face. She caved “Yeah, he took off his mask and showed me his face.” 

Laurance gasped again “Was he hot?” 

Aphmau slapped his arm in embarrassment “He was attractive.” She answered, advertising her guise. 

“Well don’t mystery boy okay? Last time I did that he ended up in the Irene Dimension.” 

“What?’ 

“Hm?” 

The two stood and stared at each other in silence, they awkwardly split away from each other still staring at each other. Aphmau went over to Logan while Laurance headed straight towards Aaron, hopefully, he wouldn’t tell the man anything. Aphmau finally split her gaze when she arrived at Logan’s merchant booth, it looked the same that it did when Aphmau was Lord. 

“Sup kid.” Logan deadpanned “What do you want.” 

“You know, I’m not that younger than you.” Aphmau leaned on the booth. 

Logan looked up at Aphmau with a ‘are you serious’ face on “Kid, I’m in my early fifties for all I know you are still in your twenties.” 

Aphmau's mouth was agape “You’re in your early fifties?” She wheezed. 

Logan rolled his eyes “Look, do you want something?” 

Aphmau tried to ignore the fact that Logan was in his fifties and told him that she was going to leave for Scaleswind and that this was starting their big trip to travel around the region. 

Logan listened to Aphmau, his face not changing one bit. All he did was nod when Aphmau was done was telling him her short farewell. 

“Scaleswind is big, big for a lot of reasons, one of them trading…. I was going to give this to you last time you went on a trip but I got nervous and you left before I could give it to you so… just head to me and Donna’s house and tell Donna that I told you that you can have my present now.” Logan simply said, going back to his book. 

“Why don’t you just give it to me yourself?” 

“Because I don’t have it genius.” Logan scoffed. 

“Okay, Jerkface.” Aphmau rolled her eyes. 

Logan laughed, she faded into quietness “I’m gonna miss you, you know?” 

Aphmau smiled softly “I’m gonna miss you too.” 

He turned his head slightly “Be safe okay? You’re like my daughter.” 

Aphmau’s heart melted, broke almost from how sweet Logan was. She almost started crying “I will, I promise.” She said, “I’m gonna go see Donna now okay?” 

Logan nodded and went back to his book leaving Aphmau to do what she wanted. 

Laurance was walking away from Aaron and going into Dante and Kawaii~Chan’s house as Aphmau went over to Donna’s. Donna was sitting in the rocking chair breastfeeding her baby girl Luca. She was looking out to the ocean with dreamy eyes as the sun rose. Aphmau waved and alerted Donna of her presence before heading over just in case Donna wanted to cover herself. She did not. 

“Hiya darlin’!” Donna smiled “How are you doing?” 

“I’m good, I needed to tell you something.” Aphmau just wanted to get right into it so she didn’t have to deal with the sadness. Aphmau told Donna that she was leaving for Scaleswind and probably not going to come back for a long while. 

“Oh wow, well be safe and all. Oh! Bring any cute guys you mean on your way back here, I want to see the look of jealousy on Logan’s face.” Donna laughed maliciously. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes but laughed along with Donna “You’re never gonna change, huh?” 

“Never.” 

“Heh, well Logan also said that he had a present for me and that I need to take it for this trip.” 

Donna thought for a moment before she remembered “Oh right, yeah it’s upstairs on the second floor. It’s on a shelf with a note saying ‘For Aphmau’ on it. You can go up there and get it; there’s a door leading outside, so you leave quicker since our house is pushed up against a hill.” 

“Okay, thanks, Donna. Have a good one.” 

“You two!” 

Aphmau said goodbye to baby and Donna before walking into the house in front of her. She found the stairs and went up to the second floor which seemed to just be a gigantic study of some sort. While she looked for the note that said ‘For Aphmau’ she found a little Irene statue that looked strangely familiar to the one that Emmalyn had before the time jump, maybe it was the same one and Donna took it so that bandits wouldn’t come and take it. It did mean a lot to Emmalyn so maybe Donna did do that. 

She found the note that said ‘For Aphmau’ and it was on a shelf like Donna said but Donna hadn’t mentioned anything about it being attached to an old-looking duffle bag that wasn’t that big but it looked heavy… and it was. She almost toppled over when she took the bag off the shelf, her curiosity was through the roof as she put the bag on the floor and squatted to open it. When she opened it she was absolutely baffled by the amount of money that was in this bag, she had only learned about how Ru’aun had changed its money system only a week ago or so when she was staying in Phoenix drop, they had changed it to paper money instead of coins because it was easier to manage and they could put different values on the money instead of having three different values of coins. Logan had somehow gotten  _ a lot _ of this new paper money and it shocked Aphmau to her core. She wondered if Donna knew about the money in this bag, she wondered how much money  _ Donna _ had. 

Aphmau took a deep breath, zipped up the duffle bag, and exited out of the second floor like Donna had suggested she do. When she walked out she acted as if nothing had happened and that she wasn’t carrying around a hundred or even millions of money in her hands. She wanted to go see Kawaii~Chan and Dante next and then she would go see Alexis and Kyle who were currently guarding the settlement gate and then she would talk to the kids and if so she would say goodbye to Aaron. As she walked to Dante and Kawaii~chan’s how Alexis was speaking to Yip, her face was a light pink and she was smiling all happily. Aphmau had a small suspicion that Yip was Alexsis’ crush but she didn’t want to assume anything. 

Kawaii~Chan noticed Aphmau heading to the door so they quickly went over and opened it to greet her with a big smile. “Kon'nichiwa! Kawaii~Chan heard that you were leaving for Scaleswind, they are unfortunate, but they understand that you need to find yourself!” Kawaii~Chan invited Aphmau in. 

“Thank you Kawaii~Chan, I’m glad you understand. I’m going to miss you a lot.” Aphmau smiled at the meif’wa. 

“Kawaii~chan is going to miss you too Aphmau~Senpai, that’s why they're giving you this!” Kawaii~Chan took something from her counter and handed it to the woman. It was a purple box that made heavy noise when Kawaii~Chan moved it from the counter over to Aphmau. Aphmau cautiously took the box and held it in her arms as she opened the box, she let a small gasp escape her lips. Inside the box were what looked to be crystal roses, cookies, a large round plush bunny, and a chain necklace with a little angel charm attached to it. Everything was beautifully arranged and Aphmau was genuinely surprised how Kawaii~Chan got all this on such short notice, so she asked her. 

“Oh, Kawaii~Chan was going to give that to you anyway because they were just so happy that you were back but now that you’re leaving they thought that it was better to give it to you now.” Kawaii~Chan answered, “Do you like it?” 

“Of course I like it Kawaii~Chan!” Aphmau went in for a hug from her friend, she hugged the meif’wa tightly as her eyes started tearing up. She didn’t want to leave anyone here because she loved them too much but she knew that this is what she had to do if she wanted to do as many things as possible for the village, herself, and possibly the world if Sasha’s predictions were right. 

“Kawaii~Chan knows that you also want to see Dante~Kun so they’ll just save themself the tears and tell you to go now, okay? He’s downstairs in the training room, it’s on the right.” Kawaii~Chan while pulling away. 

Aphmau closed the gift box “Thank you Kawaii~Chan, I don’t want to cry and make everyone sad so that’s a good call. Love you girl.” Aphmau said as she went down the spiral staircase that headed both up-down . 

“Bye-bye!” Kawaii~Chan went back to doing what she did in the kitchen. 

Aphmau went into the first room on the right which is what Aphmau was assuming Kawaii~Chan was talking about and found Dante practicing with his katanas while Laurance talked to him, more like argued with him over something that Aphmau had no context for. 

“Look, if I need to give this to her then I will Dante, but bringing up memories from the past will only make it worse-” 

“Hey boys!” Aphmau called out, making Dante stop training and Laurance stop talking. 

“Ah, are you ready to head out Aph? Aar- The stranger said that he isn’t going, I don’t know about Katelyn, Kitten, Emmalyn, or Kenmur though.” Laurance asked. 

“I can ask them no worries, I still want to say goodbye to the kids, Yip, and Alexis, and Kyle though so can we wait a bit more?” She asked. 

“Oh yeah sure, I’ll leave you two alone. See you Aph.” Laurance winked goodbye at the woman and said goodbye to Dante as he exited the room and Aphmau moved towards Dante.

He threw his katanas to the side, he was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. He wore normal civilian clothes so Aphmau assumed that he was off duty for today. He smiled sadly at the woman he used to guard. 

“I heard you’re going to Scaleswind. I’m gonna miss you.” 

“I’m going to miss you two… what were you and Laurance talking about?” Aphmau asked, slightly worried about what their argument was about. 

Dante shook his head “It was nothing, just casual bickering.” 

“But-” 

“Hey, remember to be safe okay?” He placed his hand on Aphmau’s shoulder. 

Aphmau knew that Dante was just going to ignore Aphmau and her question so she decided to let it die and move on “I can’t promise everything.” She joked “But I’ll try my best.” 

“You better.” Dante laughed “Now I need to get back to murdering this dummy so… take care okay?” 

Aphmau smiled softly and nodded “Of course, love you, Dante.” 

“Love you too Aph.” Dante snatched his Katanas as Aphmau walked out of the room and closed the door to let the man be. 

She exited the house, saying one last goodbye to Kawaii~Chan before she went over to Alexis, Yip, and Kyle to say goodbye. It was pretty much like every other goodbye conversation that she had and Yip even gave her a parting gift which was a moon charm he had in his pocket that he didn’t need anymore but would help Aphmau if she ever came across some werewolves that wanted to absolutely murder Aphmau and her group. Kyle and Alexis wished her a good trip and she went on to her next person. She went over to the tree to see Katelyn, Kitten, Emmalyn, and Kenmur. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Levin and Malachi putting a few crates aboard a massive ship that shook her to her core from the memories that it gave her. She came across Katelyn coming down the treehouse stairs because she was actually heading to the boat after she saw it, when Aphmau asked her if she was going to be joining them on their trip to Scaleswind she happily agreed to come. Katelyn informed Aphmau that Kitten, Emmalyn, and Kenmur were up in the tree as she passed by Aphmau and continued down the stairs. 

Up in the tree, Kenmur was passed out on a bed, Emmalyn was reading a book, and Kitten was balancing on the fencing of the tree. Aphmau went to Emmalyn first since she knew that Kitten was going to come with them but she didn’t know about Emmalyn because of what Belladonna said. 

“Oh… I… I know Kenmur can make his own decisions but I don’t think we’re going to come with you guys.” Emmalyn answered softly. 

“What?” 

Emmalyn bit her lip “Aph, I didn’t know that Kenmur was once engaged or that… or that the person he was engaged to be that woman… Sasha.” 

“I still don’t understand why you aren’t coming with us,” Aphmau questioned. 

“Aph, I really want to help you on your journey and I want to discover the secrets of Lady Irene, I want to help but…” She seemed incredibly sad. “I think I love him.” 

Aphmau gasped, she stammered as she tried to find words to describe how she was feeling. “What!?” 

She sucked in a breath “Right now I want to be with him, he’s going through a tough time with Sasha and all that. I just want to be with him, to help mend his heart.” 

Aphmau knew that she shouldn’t push Emmalyn but she really wanted to make her come with them on their trip but… she knew better. Aphmau sighed softly “Okay, that’s fine. If you want to be with Kenmur, be with Kenmur I’m not going to stop you.” 

“Thank you, and if you find  _ any _ books that you need me to decipher, send a messenger if you can find one.” Emmalyn smiled brightly. 

Aphmau nodded “Take care Emmalyn and get your man!” Aphmau snapped her fingers as she walked away from the librarian. 

“Aphmau!” Emmalyn scolded. 

Aphmau went over to Kitten, turning around to face the acrobatic meif’wa. She sighed and slumped over, three out of her eight people weren’t coming along on the trip so really only five people were coming on the trip which didn’t make Aphmau feel amazing. 

Not looking away from the fencing Kitten asked Aphmau if she was okay. 

Aphmau shrugged “Three people out of our group aren’t coming along with us and that’s not amazing.” 

“Hm, where are we going?” Kitten asked. 

“Scaleswind.” 

Kitten sucked in a breath, jumping down from the fencing “I’m gonna come, I don’t think that should’ve been a question.” 

Aphmau stood up while smiling brightly “Really!?” 

“Of course! I mean I’m like your guardian angel of course I have to come.” Kitten grabbed Aphmau’s hand “Now where are we going?” 

Aphmau hugged her boys on the dock that led to her ship with everyone on it that was coming, along with Amada, Aphmau’s new dog. Laurance and Kitten stood behind her waiting for her to say the word for them to sail off. 

Aphmau pulled away from her boys, tears in all of their eyes. 

“You boys be safe okay?” Aphmau put her hands on the boy’s faces. 

“You be safe!” Levin said back, holding his mother’s hand “I’m going to miss you so much.” 

“ _ I’ll make sure everyone is safe, hopefully, you make sure everyone else is safe on your side _ .” Malachi signed. 

Aphmau smiled and let her hands fall to her sides, she took a deep breath “Take care okay?” 

“Of course.” 

“Okay.” 

Aphmau turned around, drying her eyes quickly “Are you guys ready to sail off into the unknown?” She asked Laurance and Kitten. 

“I sure hope so.” Laurance sighed as the three of them got on the ship.

Kitten barked out a laugh and ran towards the helm of the ship where she took her position as ‘captain’. Everyone else on the top of the ship waved goodbye to Levin and Malachi as they sailed off to Scaleswind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO TWITCH CHAT AT TWITCH.TV YAYYYYY alkdjsfl;kjasd  
> So... some stuff happened with one of my fav CCs and I'm not feeling that great LDJFLAKSDJFKLJ so Idk if I'm gonna post again tonight but if I do I probably not gonna talk a lot in these notes so yeah!!   
> Have a nice day I guess HA HAA   
> OH AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING TILL THE END IT MEANS THE FUCKING WORLD TO ME THANK YOU SO MUCH SERIOUSLY!! aksdjfklajsdf


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I really hope you enjoy this chapter of "The Secrets of Irene"!! I hope you have a fun time reading.   
> Thank you so much!! Kudos are always appreciated but NEVER asked for!! And constructive criticism is always appreciated since I always love improving my work!!

They had been sailing for a couple of hours, a long couple of hours, it was such a long couple of hours that Aphmau was convinced that it was more like three years. Aphmau hadn’t been on a ship or boat in what felt like so long so she suspected that was causing her boredom. 

Aphmau was sitting on the ship, dangling her head over the side to look at the ocean. In the far distance, she spotted a tiny island that filled her with a strange sense of familiarness, but maybe it wasn’t so strange. It was a small little island with small blobs all over it and with, what looked to be, two-story house cottage house. Aphmau stood up and told Kitten to stop at the island so she could check it out and see if it was the same crazy cat lady island that she went to and was scarred for life. 

Kitten made a quick stop at the small island and Aphmau immediately recognized the island filled with cats. Of course, there weren’t as many cats as there was last time Aphmau was here but it was still a shockingly amount of cats on this poor island. 

Laurance volunteered to come with Aphmau and the two climbed down the rope ladder to the sandy beach below where Laurance almost ate the sand. Aphmau and everyone on the ship held back a laugh to save Laurance from the embarrassment but it was already embarrassing to begin with. Belladonna told them to be safe and that they should eat on the boat if they're hungry, Aphmau thought it was weird that she said that but she just brushed it off as motherly advice. 

The two walked over to the stairs of the house when they were stopped by the sound of a door opening above them and a female voice yelling at them. 

“Who dares disturb the island of the fierce feline warrior Michi,  _ nya _ ~!?” 

“What!?” Laurance and Aphmau both said in confusion. 

The meif’wa in question was on the second-story balcony looking down at Aphmau and Laurance. She seemed small and harmless, with the attitude of an angry puppy, she was very bubbly and her high-pitched voice added to that. She had long straight lilac purple hair with yellow-ish green eyes, and she had light brown skin that glowed like honey in the sunlight. Her cat ears were a light gray with black stripes like a tiger, her tail was the same way with the light gray coating and the black stripes making her look like a grey tiger. She had black tiger stripes on her jawline that went up to her face, black stripes that curved on the outside of her forearms, and black stripes on her shoulders. 

“Uh… we’re just here to see-” Aphmau got cut off. 

“Slaver of werewolves of all shapes and sizes!” The meif’wa wore a white and black shoulderless crop top, high waisted black shorts that looked like bathing suit bottoms, see-through white and gray gloves that stopped right below her shoulder, black boots, knee eyes gray, and white socks that had a garter belt attaching itself to the black shorts. Her claws were sharp and her eyes looked dangerous despite her bubbly personality. 

“Damn,” Laurance whispered. 

“Laurance!”

“Sorry.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “I’m sorry, we’re here because-” 

“Champion of chaos and calamity!” Michi cut her off again. 

Aphmau just stood there in shock before hesitantly saying again why she was here only for her to be cut off again making her snap out of anger “Hey! Stop cutting me off and let me talk!” 

The meif’wa scrunched up in fear and went quiet. 

“Thank you, we’re here because I remember someone leaving here and I was wondering if she still lived here. I’m just here with my guard, my three other friends, and my puppy. I’m not trying to start anything here.” Aphmau explained. 

The meif’wa girl gasped “Nya~, did you say puppy?” 

Aphmau nodded. 

The girl squealed “I love puppies! Is it like a werewolf or just a normal dog-dog?” 

“Just a normal dog, it’s a Newfoundland dog so it’s very fluffy. We’re not sure how old she is though.” Aphmau answered. 

The girl squealed once again “You guys can come in for tea and stuff and I can see your puppy! Wait for a second while I open the door!” Michi rushed away from the balcony to go open the front door. 

Laurance turned towards Aphmau after staring at the balcony in disbelief for a few seconds “Well… she’s no Urla, maybe she’s okay?” 

Aphmau scrunched up her face a bit “We still don’t know her, we don’t know her motives or anything. Who knows maybe she wants to kidnap us and take us away to some castle to marry a prince.” 

Laurance snorted “Yeah well if that does happen we know who the prince is choosing.” He pointed to himself as he turned on his heels towards the boat. 

“As if, he’d totally choose me, I’m the better option.” Aphmau flipped her hair jokingly as she passed by Laurance. 

“I mean if the prince was me of course I’d choose you.” He winked. 

Aphmau fake gagged. They went over to the boat and got Amada and Katelyn since she said that she would rather die then stay on this stupid boat for another minute, Kitten and Belladonna volunteered to stay on the boat to make sure that they don’t somehow get robbed. Belladonna once again reminded Aphmau and the group that if they were hungry to eat on the boat, Kitten encouraged this as well. 

Katelyn, Aphmau, Laurance, and Amada made it just in time for Michi to open the front door with a plate of cookies in her hand. Katelyn and Laurance took a cookie while Aphmau quietly refused, she then allowed Amada to freely roam the house while cats stared at the little puppy like it was about to kill them all. 

Laurance and Katelyn went into the kitchen to do their own thing while Aphmau and Michi sat on Michi’s living room couch while having tea and light snacks that Aphmau continued to refuse. 

Aphmau took a sip of her tea while Michi set her tea down “It’s been forever since I’ve had guests over! I'm so glad you guys joined me for tea.” The meif’wa smiled brightly. 

“Well thank you for your hospitality. The last woman that lived here fifteen years ago would’ve never done this for me, she was bitch.” 

Michi sighed and looked down in sadness “I’m guessing you're talking about Urla, Urla was my ma… my mother.” 

Aphmau’s mouth was agape in shock “Holy Irene I’m so sorry, I didn’t know I was just saying that from my experiences with her.” 

“It’s okay, I suppose that I was the only special one.” 

The gears in Aphmau’s head were turning as she tried to figure out how Urla was the mother of Michi “So… are you related to Donna?” 

Michi shook her head “Donna was Urla’s biological daughter, I am Urla’s adoptive daughter. It’s really a long story of how I got here.” 

Aphmau made herself comfortable “We have time.” She took a sip of her tea. 

“Really? I haven’t spoken to anyone in a long time about myself, nya~.” She looked down at Aphmau’s half-empty teacup “Oh, you're almost empty. Here are some more.” She began pouring more tea into the cup, Aphmau wanted to refuse but Michi was already pouring and Aphmau was too nice to say anything. 

Aphmau looked at Michi’s cat ears and her meif’wa features, she wondered since Michi lived pretty close to Phoenix Drop she wondered if Michi knew Kawaii~Chan, they must’ve run into each other once, it wasn’t rude to ask was it? “Michi, do you know a meif’wa named Kawaii~Chan?” 

“Hm? What!? No, do you think just because we are both are meif’wa we know each other?! Not all meif’wa are related, genius!” Michi scolded. 

“What no! I was just asking because you live pretty close to my friend who also just happens to be a meif’wa. I wasn’t implying anything I’m so sorry.” Aphmau apologized. 

Michi let out a deep breath “I’m sorry, it’s just so many non-creatures always think that I’m related to someone just because me and that person are meif’wa. Not a lot of meif’wa live in the Ru’aun region because most of us stay in the Tu’La region where we’re from so the comparing and stuff happens a lot.” 

“Oh I didn’t know that, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know that meif'wa came from Tu’La.”

“Do you know anything about creatures and where they come from?” 

Aphmau shook her head. 

“Well get ready for a history lesson, the most common creature here in Ru’aun is the Lu’pine also known as ‘werewolves’. Those Lu’pine also originated here in Ru’aun from many many years of curses and evolution. Meif’was originate in the region called Tu’La, where most people there are either latino or Asian. Meif’wa and Lu’pine don’t get along that well like cats and dogs so we tend to stay in our regions but some of us were either born here from immigrant parents or are immigrants ourselves.” Michi explained. 

“Oh wow, I didn’t know any of that.” Aphmau drank her tea “Also I’m so sorry if I made her feel like I was comparing you, I can assure you that I was not.”

Michi shrugged “It’s okay. Well going back to me now, I came to this region around ten-ish years ago, my parents had sadly passed away and bad things happened in my life that I don’t want to talk about but all you have to know is that I ran away. I was hiding in this region in my cat form when I stumbled upon this small little island, I got ganged up on by a pack of wolves but a sweet little old lady came and saved me. Next thing I know I’m in a soft bed with a warm blanket around me and because she was so sweet and kind to me I decided to reveal myself to her, and instead of her rejecting me she cried and said that Irene had answered her prayers and gave her the perfect daughter. From then on she claimed me as her daughter and I did everything I could to show how grateful I was for her, I even rebuilt her house…. Then… but then two years she passed away.” 

“I’m so sorry, I bet she was a great mother to you.” Aphmau rubbed the girl’s shoulder in comfort. Aphmau remembered how she had been such a terrible person to Logan and Donna and how she disowned her own daughter for marrying a werewolf. Aphmau remembers punching that old lady in the face. 

Michi smiled softly, she looked down at Aphmau’s hands and then to the plate of cookies next to her. “It’s fine, I’ve tried to carry on her work… like baking cookies. Here, have one.” Michi grabbed a cookie and handed it to Aphmau. 

She knew that Belladonna said that if she was hungry she should eat on the boat but she didn’t see what harm a little cookie could do to her. She took the cookie and ate it, the thing was absolutely terrible, it was bitter and had a strange acidic taste to it. She shook it off to not be mean to Michi and just pretended like she was full and placed the half-eaten cookie in her lap. 

“So now that we’ve gone over my story, what’s yours?” Michi asked, smiling maliciously. 

“Oh well…” Aphmau explained in a small detail that she used to be the Lord of a successful village, started an alliance but passed the leadership on to her friend and that she’s a pretty good fighter. 

“Wow, so you’re a real warrior yourself, huh?” Michi said right before Laurance caught her attention as he went over to Michi’s bookcase and began looking at all the books in search of something as Katelyn laughed in the background “Is that human male your lover by any chance, nya~” She whispered.

“Oh, Laurance?” Aphmau shook her head “He’s very close to me but I wouldn’t consider ourselves together.” 

Michi nodded “So… you wouldn’t mind if another woman came by and snatched him up would you?” 

Aphmau thought for a second, she would feel a little weird that someone else would be with Laurance but if Laurance wanted to be with someone else he could do whatever he wanted “I wouldn’t mind, he’s his own man.” 

“Good.” She snapped her fingers “Hey pretty boy!” She called over. 

Laurance turned around hesitantly with furrowed eyebrows “Me?” he mouthed. 

Michi nodded “Which one is the cuter one?” She pointed between herself and Aphmau, Aphmau’s mouth dropped in shock. 

“Out of the three of us?” Laurance asked, “Me of course, I’m gorgeous.” 

Aphmau stifled a laugh while Michi got up and went over to the now standing Laurance, she grazed her hands against Laurance’s neck “Come one, meif’wa are much cuter than regular girls.” 

“Excuse me?” Laurance asked. 

Aphmau stood up in worry, not sure what Michi was going to do next. She grabbed Laurance’s hand tightly. 

“Don’t you want to make her jealous with me?” She purred while Laurance jerked his hand back. 

“Will you please… please… get-” 

“Aphmau?” Katelyn wheezed which was followed by a loud  _ THUD! _

Aphmau and Laurance both jumped and yelled out of fear. Laurance took a wheezy breath before falling against Mich and then on the floor just like Katelyn. 

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Aphmau screamed, trying to back away from Michi as she moved towards the woman. 

“This took way too long.” She snatched Aphmau’s wrists. Everything was getting dizzy and Aphmau couldn’t breathe. Her vision got foggy right before everything went black. 

Kitten and Belladonna were laying down on the ship floor under the scorching sun with Amada next to them just… waiting

Kitten didn’t lift her head as she asked Belladonna a question “Where are they now?” 

Belladonna yawned “Somewhere in hell, Michi is probably making them hell travel.” 

“Oohh, hell traveling. She’s smart.” Kitten awed. 

“Yeah, so when do we have to worry about them and start heading to them?” Belladonna asked. 

Kitten went quiet for a moment before answering “I think in about an hour or so, maybe two. We start heading over when Aphmau meets Queen Ylva.” 

Belladonna awed “Ylva’s a sweet woman- OH SHIT!” 

“What!?” Kitten shot up. Amada barked from the loud noise. 

Belladonna “Dante just punched Aaron in the face by accident.” 

Kitten snorted out a laugh which made Belladonna start laughing and soon the pair were in a fit of laughter. 

  
  


Aphmau woke up with a splitting headache, it was so bad that she actually believed for a second that her head was bleeding. Thankfully she did not find a wound of any blood but she did find cat ears on her head, which made her start freaking out. At first, she thought she was hallucinating but then she found out that also had a tail, it was a great surprise that she didn’t pass out again. She was in a jail cell with a plate of food, a bowl of water, and a small cot as a bed but Aphmau had woken up on the floor. She was stripped of all her clothes and was left with her bra and underwear which didn't protect her at all from the cold air around her. She had none of her stuff and she had nothing to defend herself, to her right there was another cell holding Katelyn who looked to be in the same situation she was in. 

“Katelyn? Katelyn!” Aphmau grabbed onto the iron bars and faced the woman who turned into a meif’wa with blue ears and a tail. 

Katelyn grabbed on the bars to face Aphmau “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine! How are you?” 

“I’m good, my head hurts but I’m fine.” 

“That’s good…. What happened?” 

Katelyn groaned “That little meif’wa  _ bitch _ used some kind of sleeping serum on us or something, it must’ve been in the tea and food.”

Aphmau groaned out of frustration “Are you kidding me?! No wonder she never drank the tea!” 

Katelyn gasped “What do you think happened to Belladonna and Kitten?” 

Aphmau thought for a second, she knew that Belladonna and Kitten were both titans of time and probably knew that they would be kidnapped and so they didn’t even try to stop Michi but Katelyn didn’t know that. Aphmau just said that she bet that they were fine and were trying to find them right now. The sound of a door creaking open made Aphmau and Katelyn shut up and snap their heads towards the sounds which were right outside of their cells. 

A large werewolf came out from the entrance of the doorway, they smirked when they saw Katelyn and Aphmau making both women feel incredibly uncomfortable. The werewolf walked into the gap between the two cells and turned their head slowly to get a good look at both women. 

“That Michi wasn’t lying when she had two to pick from, huh?” The werewolf growled. 

Aphmau cringed while Katelyn started screaming her head off “I demand to know where we are! You better let me and my Aphmau go or else I’m going to fucking murder you!” 

“My Aphmau?” 

The werewolf huffed “Really? What is a poor little kitty going to do to me?” They laughed “I’m not sure if you noticed but you're behind bars and completely unarmed.” 

“Oh I don’t need weapons.” Katelyn hissed. 

The werewolf shook his head “This one’s too feisty for the Prince.” The werewolf turned its head back to Aphmau “This one on the other hand looks good. Much cuter than Michi herself.” 

“You disgust me.” Aphmau gagged “I’m not your fucking toy to goggle at.” 

“Jeesh! Are all meif’wa this hostile?” The werewolf cringed. They rolled their eyes “Meh, you’ll fit in perfectly to our society. I’ll take you upstairs to get you ready and presented to the king.” 

Aphmau backed herself against the wall “You aren’t touching me unless you are letting us go free.” 

The werewolf rolled their eyes once more “Look, if it were up to me I’d let you go but it’s not up to me. If you keep complaining, the king will kill your friend over okay, kapeesh?” 

Aphmau stood there in shock, as the werewolf acted like what they said was normal and went over to Aphmau’s cell. 

“I’m sorry but I have to knock you out so you don’t think of escaping.” 

“What!? No!” She yelled, tripping over the small cot that was supposed to be her bed. The last thing she saw before everything went black once against was the werewolf’s furry fist right in front of her face. 

Aphmau woke up once again with  _ another _ splitting headache. She wished that when she checked her head for cat ears they weren’t there anymore but they were still there along with some crusted blood on the back of her head from probably hitting the wall when the werewolf punched her, she wished that she was in a dream… but she was not. Instead of being in a dream, she was in a very fancy room with fancy bedsheets, a fancy chandelier, fancy everything really. Yet with everything being fancy she was still in just her underwear and bra which made her incredibly uncomfortable when a strange beautiful woman walked into the room. 

Aphmau grabbed the blankets and covered herself as she moved to the far edge of the bed, the woman stayed quiet as Aphmau threatened her. 

“I swear to Irene if you come any closer I will rip your head off!” Aphmau sapped. 

The woman had blonde werewolf ears and a bushy blonde tail coming out of her backside. Her eyes were tired and sad like her mouth which looked to be in a natural frown, she was sweet and her voice was calming but calming enough to make Aphmau stop freaking out “I haven’t seen a meif’wa in so long… you are truly a beautiful species.” 

Aphmau’s breathing was frantic “Please don’t hurt me, I didn’t want any of this.” 

“Oh, sweetheart I’m not here to hurt you. I bet you’ve been through some horrible things already…. My name is Queen Ylva of the South Eastern Wolf Tribe.” She had long blonde hair that went down to her knees, light gray eyes, and brown skin. The dress that she wore was so long that the ends layed down on the floor and covered her feet, it was red with black trimming and shoulderless. 

“Why am I here?” Aphmau asked, not putting down her guard for a second. 

“You are going to marry my son.” 

“What!? No! I’m not going to be forced into marriage! Isn’t this like illegal or something!?” Aphmau asked frantically. 

Ylva shook her head “I’m afraid not sweetheart but please do not fret, I was forced to marry my husband when I was your age and now I’m in a happy marriage.” She smiled softly. 

“Fuck off.” Aphmau snapped “Guess what I’m not you! I’m not going to marry your son.” 

The woman sighed “If I could let you go I would but The South Eastern Werewolf monarchy has been around for centuries and we’ve all accepted this way of marriage.” 

Aphmau’s brain searched for any way to prove that she was not a meif’wa and that she wasn’t supposed to be here. She shot out of the bed when she remembered that she had Irene’s relic and that these ears were somehow put on her. Ylva looked afraid at the suddenness of Aphmau’s movements and thought that she was about to escape. 

“Look! I’m not a meif’wa, I have Irene’s relic in me and this other meif’wa named Michi put these cat ears on me somehow.” Aphmau pleaded “I promise to you I’m not supposed to be here.” 

“That’s a bold claim my darling. Can you prove what you say?” 

Aphmau realized that she could not prove her claim, she had no idea how to take these stupid cat ears off and she coudln’t control her powers. What she said was useless. She shook her head in defeat. 

“Then your claim holds no ground here. Come, let’s get you dressed to meet the King and my son, the prince.” Ylva went to grab Aphmau’s hand but she jerked back. 

Her head was thinking of million ideas a second for ways to get out of this situation. She gasped “Wait! The Southern Wolf Tribe, you must know them! I’m friends with their alpha, Bodolf, can you contact him somehow? He can prove who I really am which is  _ not _ a meif’wa.” 

Ylva sighed, she did that a lot “I’m sorry sweetheart but Bodolf has passed away. The leadership of that tribe has fallen into Lowell’s hands.” 

“I know Lowell as well! I’m best friends with him, I’m friends with everyone in that tribe!” 

“I’ll do what I can but… but we are currently at war with the Southern Wolf Tribe,” Ylva answered sadly. 

Aphmau groaned “Is all you people know is war?! I mean this is ridiculous!”

“Werewolves are very stubborn creatures with terrible anger issues, it’s all in our genetics. I’ll send out a messenger bird to seek out Lowell but chances are he won’t receive it.” 

Aphmau put the heels of her palms on her eyes as tears came about. She was so frustrated that no one believed her, she just wished her stupid powers would work when she wanted them to. They used to work on command but now it felt like everything reset. She wasn’t crying out of sadness she was crying out frustration and she didn’t know which one was worse. 

Ylva softly grabbed Aphmau’s wrist and pulled hands down from her eyes “Dry your eyes my dear princess, you’ll learn to love your new Prince. Follow me, now.” 

Aphmau stopped fighting and let the woman lead her to a bathroom with only a vanity mirror and a bath. It was really putting the word  _ bath _ room to work. Ylva told Aphmau to get undressed and get the bath ready while she went out and got an outfit for Aphmau that she believed would fit, Aphmau did as told. The worst thing she had done was stop fighting, she was weak now, she was defeated… it was a terrible feeling. It took a while for Ylva to come back with an outfit for Aphmau to wear which Aphmau could’ve used that time to escape but she knew that it would be useless, she had no way to get Katelyn out of her cell, there were guards at every turn, and she didn’t even know where she was.

Once Aphmau was done cleaning herself up Ylva handed her a towel and told her to step out of the bathtub so she could brush her hair and put makeup on her. Aphmau did as told and sat on a stool in front of the vanity mirror, Aphmau had a black eye, cuts on the side of her face, and there seemed to be a cut across her nose. 

_ What did Michi do to me? _ Aphmau thought as Ylva began pushing out her long black thick hair. 

“I just don’t understand why you chose a meif’wa. If it’s a monarchy aren’t you guys supposed to stay in the same species?” Aphmau asked out of general confusion. 

“We received a prophecy from the lunar goddess, Lune, that if our tribe’s Kingdom wants to grow and prosper a child born of Meif’wa and Lu’pine blood must be the next heir to the throne. Therefore my husband put a bounty for any who could bring back a female Meif’wa who had exceptional traits.” Ylva explained. 

“What about Michi? She’s a Meif’wa isn’t she?” 

Ylva scrunched her face up in disgust and shook her head “She is a rotten one, I’ll tell you that. Why she kicked and screamed when I tried to bathe her, she acted like a self-absorbed brat. My husband despised her but he was willing to have her marry the Prince if it meant the prophecy would be fulfilled. However, Michi made a deal with my husband. In exchange for her freedom, she would find more female meif’wa with better personality traits for the King to pick as a suitor for our son. If she failed within 2 months we’d go after her for lying…. Her two months are actually up tomorrow, I was worried she wasn’t going to be able to deliver more meif’wa but now you’re here my little princess.” 

Aphmau had a warm feeling in her chest when Ylva called her ‘princess’, she felt like she had a mother for once “Why do you keep calling me your princess?”

Ylva sighed “I’ve always wanted a daughter cub, so since you're marrying my son you are the closest thing to my daughter.”

“What if I don’t want to marry him?” Aphmau asked without hesitation. 

“Then at least I had the chance to pretend like I had a daughter. Either way, it still makes me smile and I can help you at the same time, I am a mother after all. All young ones are my cubs.” 

“That’s very sweet of you.” Aphmau sat there as Ylva moved on to do Aphmau’s makeup, something Aphmau herself had never done before. Aphmau let out a small sigh “I just have to ask, why do you guys have a monarchy? Isn’t that the whole reason we now have villages because monarchies were evil?” 

“Well that was for the humans,  _ their _ monarchy was evil because they elected an evil, power-hungry person. We operate in our own ways, werewolves have always had a king, or a leader, or an alpha, who is believed to speak with the Lunar Goddess. We choose personally to have a monarchy because it keeps the other wolf tribes around here in balance, though you’ll notice we choose to flaunt our monarchy status by having a giant castle as opposed to the traditional, yet primitive wolf village. It’s a personal preference.” Ylva explained. Ylva finished up Aphmau’s makeup, very subtle hints of blush, lipstick, and eyeshadow to make everything look natural, and handed Aphmau a white poofy dress. She also gave Aphmau back her bra and underwear so she could fully get dressed and so she wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable in the dress that resembled a wedding dress, the white shoes and white socks that Ylva handed her didn’t make the situation better. Aphmau’s outfit made her heart drop down to her stomach, she was not ready to possibly get married to someone she didn’t even know. Tears came to her eyes as she began to imagine herself in a wedding dress, so young, not knowing who she was truly in love with, and she was in a wedding dress… a version of a wedding dress. 

“How do you like it?” Ylva whispered, putting her hands on Aphmau’s shoulders. 

Aphmau looked in the mirror with disgust and fear “It’s… it’s gorgeous… I wonder how Laur-” Aphmau’s heart dropped once more “Oh dear Irene Laurance, I completely forgot about him!” 

“Oh no…” Ylva backed up to look at Aphmau with sad eyes as she began to panic “Don’t tell me Laurance is your lover?” 

“He means the world to me and I just completely forgot about him!” She yelled “I need to know if he’s okay, I need to know what Michi did to him! Gods, I’m so stupid.” She put her hands over her eyes. 

Ylva peeled Aphmau’s hands away from her eyes “My darling please, you must forget about him.” 

“I’m not about to forget about him!” Aphmau ripped her hands away from the queen as tears fell from her eyes “You don’t understand, he’s my best friend. I need to know where he is, where you put him!” 

“Darling if you mention anything of your lover to the King he will most certainly have him sought out and executed.” Ylva said softly “You need to let him go right now, for the sake of your friend down there in the dungeons.” 

Aphmau’s breathing was heavy, there was nothing to do, she was backed up against a wall. She quickly wiped her tears and sucked in a breath “I hate this… I hate this so much. I hate you, I hate this castle, I hate the king, I hate your son-” 

“I know, I know sweetheart but you can’t do anything to stop this. For this Laurance and your friend down in the dungeons, do not continue to love him…. Do not do anything to upset the king.” 

“Will you take care of them, treat them nicely?” Aphmau was in a whirlwind of emotions, switching from one to another… it was overwhelming even for her. 

“I will have my ladies-in-waiting make sure your friend is well fed and taken care of.” Ylva answered “Now come with me to the throne room.” 

Aphmau followed out of defeat as Queen Ylva led her to the large throne room. She kept her head down, her hands to herself, and stayed in line as she passed through dozens of hallways, turned a dozen corners, and went down about a dozen stairs. Her heart was out of her body the time they had reached the throne room from pure fear and defeat as she processed everything that was happening. 

The throne room was large, with a gold and quartz throne, a red carpet leading from the throne to two large wooden doors that Aphmau suspected to be the exit, a large chandelier hung from the middle of the floor lighting everything up. Hints of gold were everywhere in the room, on the floor, the walls, even the stairs leading to the throne room had hints of gold. 

The King, even with being a werewolf, showed no signs of being a werewolf and neither did his sier. It seemed that the men of this tribe or kingdom didn’t show their werewolf traits but the women did, but then again all around Aphmau were fully transformed werewolves so maybe it was a personal preference thing. The king had brown bushy hair, a fairly large nose, olive skin, lots of body hair. He wore normal-looking clothing and a large red scarf around his arms and behind his back with a blue and gold crown that wrapped around the sides of his head but not the front with golden leaves at the end. 

Aphmau stood in front of the king, his aid, and Ylva with a blank face of distaste. She took a deep breath, waiting for the worst to come. 

“Will you look at this one.” The king smiled “Mino, who is she?” 

“Michi has stated that she’s skilled in combat, was the founder of an alliance, and was a lord to a very successful village.” The king’s aid answered. 

“That little bitch.” Aphmau muttered under her breath, she knew she shouldn’t have trusted Michi with anything. 

“Is this true meif’wa?” The king asked. 

“I have a name y’know? It’s Aphamu.” She learned not to say her last name in situations like this. 

“Oh! You have a personality, don’t you? Not too feisty and at least you're not annoying like that Michi, yeesh!” The king thought to himself as he studied Aphmau “I can see you making beautiful sons in the future.” 

“What?” Aphmau asked in shock “Okay this bullshit, look you can’t just talk to me like I’m a toy ready to be bought. I'm a person, I have a life, you can’t just talk to me like that.” 

Ylva, The King, and the king’s aid all stood there in shock at what Aphmau had just said. Ylva was sure that Aphmau was dead, The King was in disbelief that someone would talk to him like that, and the king’s aid was just… there. 

“Your friends.” Ylva mouthed, trying to get Aphmau to potentially backtrack on what she said. 

Aphmau stared Ylva down, in regret and anger. She really wanted to lash out and yell at this pathetic excuse for a king but she knew that if she did Katelyn and Laurance would probably get killed. Aphmau closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just a little nervous. It’s not every day you see a werewolf king.” Aphmau apologized. 

The King huffed out a laugh “I like you, everyone should have a bit of personality in their lives. Mino, I absolutely approve of this one to marry my son. Take her to his chambers and make sure magic happens.” 

“Of course sir, please follow me Aphmeow.” The king’s aid snapped his fingers and three werewolves surrounded Aphmau, grabbing her arms and picking her up. 

She gasped “Excuse me!? Let me go! You are not taking me anywhere! Also, my name is Aphmau!” 

Aphmau yelled and thrashed her arms and legs while ‘Mino’ led Aphmau and the werewolves to the prince’s chamber. Even though all her struggles nothing happened, all her yelling and thrashing was in the end, for nothing. She threw her into a room and slammed the door behind them, she banged on the door and pleaded for them to let her go and that she wasn’t a real meif’wa. 

“So you’re the meif’wa suitor my father has picked for me.” Aphmau gasped and whipped around at the voice. 

“You’re not exactly what I imagined.” The prince said softly, he looked young, very young, too young for Aphmau. Not in a weird way but in a ‘he’s probably eighteen and Aphmau is twenty-eight’ way. 

“And you’re young.” Aphmau said the prince moved closer to her “If you come any closer to me I swear to Irene I bash your head in.” Aphmau was in a very violent state right now with her being violated twice in what seemed like one day. 

“Okay, okay I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to leave or feel like I actually love you, I don’t.” The prince apologized. 

“Okay good, I wouldn’t want the son of an insane man to be in love with me. Gods this is so stupid!” She groaned and put her hands in her hair “This is so stupid, I shouldn’t even be here. I don’t want to marry you, I don't want to be forced into this.” 

“I know, I don’t want to be forced into this either. I wish I could run away from all of this, I’m sorry if my father did anything to make you feel uncomfortable.” 

“Uncomfortable? I was knocked out twice today and then told that I needed to marry a man I didn’t even know or my friends would be killed. So yeah your father kinda made me uncomfortable.” Aphmau sighed. 

“Well, I feel like since we’re getting married we should know each other.” He stepped back and put his hand out “My name is Fenrir, Prince of the South Eastern Wolf Tribe, you?”

“My name is Aphmau, that’s all you're getting.” Aphmau let the man’s hand hang there while she stared angrily at him. 

“Tck,” he put his hand down “I understand. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now and ever since my father heard of the meif’wa and lu’pine prophecy he’s been on a power trip and is trying to assert his authority in every way, shape, and form he can.” 

“Well he needs to be stopped, I’m sorry you’re in the same situation.” Aphmau sympathized with Fenrir, she didn’t want to be entirely rude to someone who was in the same position as her.

Fenrir nodded “My father is holding my best friend in the dungeon. He said he’ll set her free once we are married… if I refuse this then… then he’ll kill her too.” 

“Oh dear gods, that’s terrible I’m so sorry.” 

“Yeah, and it’s worse that she’s the person that I  _ actually _ love.” Fenrir ran his fingers through his hair “I know it’s cheesy but she was the first one to accept me after I came out.” 

“That’s very sweet.” Aphmau awed “I’m glad you’ve found the one for you, I wasn’t expecting you to be the prince to sweep me off my feet so I’m kinda glad.” 

The boy smiled softly “Do you have any allies that you can call to aid us? We could get help from an outside source.” 

“All my stuff was taken, I woke up with nothing and the only other source that I can think of is in a war with you guys.” Aphmau answered “Also I have no idea where my other friends are but hopefully they are trying to find me.” 

“Darn, I guess we can’t do anything but sit and wait.” 

“Wait for the wedding?” 

Fenrir nodded “It’s in two days.” 

“What!?” Aphmau stuttered “This is insane holy shit.” 

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either. I know this is a strange time but I suggest that we both get some sleep.” Behind Fenrir was a small balcony that showed the dark abyss that was the sky. “You can take my bed and I can sleep on the floor, if anyone comes in I’ll just say that I fell out of bed or something.” 

“Really? You don’t have to do that.” Aphmau said. 

“I want to, you are the guest here and I feel like that will make both of us comfortable. I know that this is going to be really awkward for the both of us but if being awkward means that both of our loved ones are safe I’d be awkward any day.” Fenrir answered. 

Aphmau nodded “I understand.”

“And for what it’s worth, in a non-creepy way - you are very pretty.” Fenrir complimented her. 

“Thank you.” 

Aphmau and Fenrir headed to bed with Fenrir laying on the carpeted floor and Aphmau sleeping on the silk sheeted bed. She was just tired and wanted this to be all over with, hopefully when she woke up she would be back on the ship and heading towards the crazy cat lady’s island so she can warn everyone of what might happen. 

“Your majesty come quick!” 

Aphmau woke up to the sound of Mino opening the door and yelling at Fenrir to come to follow him. Aphmau woke up groggily and rubbed her eyes to adjust to the sunlight peeking in through the balcony and the trees. 

“You fell out of bed, are you okay your majesty?” Mino asked. 

“Hm?” Fenrir sat up “Oh yeah I’m fine, what’s going on?” 

“Michi has brought forth your meif’wa finance’s lover!” Mino smiled brightly “The King is ordering you to execute him at once.” 

“What!?” Aphmau and Fenrir both said in shock for two different reasons, Aphmau was surprised that Laurance was found and Fenrirs was surprised that he had to kill someone. 

“Quickly we need to get your best execution suit on!” Mino rushed to Fenrir’s closet. 

Fenrir turned his head to Aphmau and went on his knees “I won’t let this happen to your lover.” He whispered, “I’ll find us a way to get out of this.” 

“What are you going to do?” Aphmau whispered back “You can’t just defy your father’s orders, he’ll kill  _ you _ .” 

“I’ll just make it up when I get there, maybe I can say that I want to hold it off for the wedding for like… a wedding sacrifice.” Fenrir shrugged. 

“That is… morbid.” 

“We are in a very morbid situation right now.” 

“True.”

Mino came over to them with a very expensive looking outfit in his hands “Sir, would you like to dress in this?” 

Fenrir looked at the outfit with nervousness, he looked back at Aphmau who nodded her head yes. Fenrir shrugged and took the outfit, Mino said that Aphmau could just stay in what she was already in since they didn’t have any other clothes for her. Fenrir got changed with impressive speed and took Aphmau’s hand while Mino led them to wherever Laurance was. 

Mino had led Fenrir and Aphmau to the throne room where Ylva, the King, Michi, and Laurance were all standing. Fenrir and Aphmau stayed on the stairs as Mino headed down to stand by the king, Laurance looked beaten up and as if he had all the energy drained out of him. He, like Aphmau, had cat ears and a tail but his were a light orange with white splotches everywhere. Aphmau gasped when she saw him, the only other time she had seen him in such a state like this was when he escaped Hell which… that was  _ hell _ this was a little meif’wa brat.

“So Michi, why are you here once again with another meif’wa that we do not need.” The King asked. 

“Well, I heard from a little birdy that your son is going to marry one of the meif’wa I brought you, nya~! This male meif’wa here is her lover, I do not need for him since he didn’t want to have fun with me at all!” She crossed her arms in anger. 

“Well, there’s not a lot to have ‘fun’ with,” Laurance mumbled. 

Michi gasped “You little bitch! There’s a reason I fucking-” She took a deep breath “I brought him here because it would be such a shame if he was allowed to roam around. What if he got ideas to be with your son’s fiance behind his back!” 

“I’ve already sent for the Prince to execute him. When I saw a male I figured this was going to be the case. Good work Michi. Now take your payment and get out of my face.” The king hissed, side glancing Aphmau and Fenrir on the staircase. 

Michi purred before turning on her heels and being handed a small box with Laurance yelling at her that he would kill her once he got out of this situation for what he did to them. She exited the castle with her middle finger towards Laurance and transformed into a cat to run away. 

The King rolled his eyes and massaged his temples “Tell me, meif’wa-” 

“I’m not a meif’wa. I’m a human. Now you better let me and my friends go before I-”

“Do not speak out of line now.” The King sighed “Let me ask you… are you truly the lover of the female meif’wa Aphmau?” 

“Lover?” Laurance thought before shaking his head “No, I am only her guard… nothing else.” 

“Well she’s waiting upon those stairs, why don’t you tell her that?” The King smirked wickedly. 

Laurance looked to his right to see Aphmau there, he smiled softly. She smiled back. He took a deep breath and licked his lips as his eyes got glossy “Aphmau I-” 

“I’ve seen enough!” The King yelled, “Fenrir come and commence the beheading!” 

“What!?” Laurance stammered “You didn’t even let me finish!” 

“You can’t fool me, I saw that look in your eye. Even if you aren’t her lover, you are a threat to their relationship, I will not have this. Let the execution begin!”

“Fenrir!” Aphmau snapped. 

“What can I do!?” He whispered. 

“Something!” 

Fenrir grabbed Aphmau’s hand and the two went down the stairs and stood next to Laurance. His hands were tied behind his back but he still went to reach for Aphmau which made her heartbreak. 

“Father, I uh… I would like to commence the beheading of this male meif’wa on me and Aphmau’s wedding.” Fenrir stammered for an answer. 

“Wedding!?” Laurance said, shocked. 

“Under what reasoning?” The King asked. 

“Well, we are getting married under the full moon are we not? Wouldn’t the Lunar Goddess appreciate a… a sacrifice?”

“Hm…. That’s a brilliant idea Fenrir! Very well, we will commence this execution after the wedding. Guards, toss this male meif’wa in the dungeon! This gathering is dismissed. Return to your quarters' son.” The king flicked his hands and two werewolves went to grab Laurance. 

Laurance yelled at the king as the werewolves took him away, Fenrir’s grip on Aphmau’s hand tightened as he mouthed ‘sorry’ to her. She sucked in a breath and let go of the man’s hand to go back to his room, Fenrir followed behind her. 

Aphmau could hear Laurance’s struggle even from the hallway to Fenrir’s room which was heartbreaking to hear. Aphmau’s blood was cold from the yelling and the struggling. 

Fenrir closed the door behind them “I’m sorry, I am so sorry what my father has done and has  _ become _ .”

“Don’t beat yourself up over something you can’t control.” Aphmau said, sitting on the small couch that he had in his room “At least you bought Laurance some more time.” 

“I know it’s just… I feel so bad.” He sat down next to Aphmau. 

“Yeah, I would to, to see my father become such a terrible person.” She sighed “I can’t stop you from blaming yourself, I'm just gonna say it’s not the right thing to do. If you didn’t go out of your way to say ‘hey dad you should become corrupt’ then you really have no part in his madness.” 

“I guess you're right, I just feel so useless.” 

Aphmau nodded “It’s a terrible feeling isn’t it?” 

Fenrir nodded. 

“My uh… my head guard dealt with things like that. Feeling like he wasn’t doing enough to protect the place he loved, feeling like he wasn’t doing enough to protect  _ me _ .” Aphmau raked her hands through her hair. 

“Well he’s your head guard, isn’t that like a very special position?” 

Aphmau nodded “But he still felt weak, felt small. My village had a war between another very powerful village and he sided with the opposing village… from what he’s told me he regrets it dearly, he blamed it on his self-consciousness.” 

“Why did he side with this in the first place?” Fenrir asked, sitting up since he was intrigued with the story. 

Aphmau shrugged “I’ve never gotten a clear explanation, from what I can guess he sided with them because he thought I was with my best friend. You see my head guard had loved for a  _ very _ long time and seeing me be with another man kinda… broke him. He felt like I had betrayed him.” 

“Did you?” 

“No! I don’t even recall what he’s talking about but I don’t think  _ he _ knows that.” 

“Well, how did he deal with his self-consciousness and the feeling of being useless?” Fenrir was asking this as advice for himself. 

“Encouragement, once he looked out on the work that he had done over the years and saw the smile on people’s faces that he had done something, something good.” Aphmau turned her head to Fenrir “You did something good, you are trying your hardest to do something good. My head guard still felt useless sometimes but he at least knew that he had done something good once.” 

Fenrir’s eyes were tearing up “I did something good.” 

“Yeah. You’ve done a lot of good things, staying in line so your friend can get released, buying my friend more time, making sure that our fake relationship looks real. You’ve done a lot of good whether you know it or not.” Aphmau smiled softly. 

Fenrir sniffled “Thank you.” 

“Everything is going to turn out fine and no one is going to die. We just need a plan.” Aphmau said “Is there a way that we could ‘attack’ the king?” 

Fenrir shook his head and dried his eyes “He had guards around him twenty-four/seven, there is no way we could find some way to kill him or even threaten him without a sword being at our necks in the next ten seconds.” He sighed “We literally can’t do anything without our loved ones suffering the consequences.” 

Aphmau groaned “This is so stupid.” 

“I know, I just wish that… wait-” Fenrir clapped his hands “Abbey!” 

“What about her?” 

“Abbey is a mercenary, she doesn’t stay in one village, but the last place she visited was Scaleswind. Maybe she can help us, she has many connections in so many places!” He laughed out of excitement “I’m going to need you to go see her in the dungeon and talk with her to see if she has any ideas on how we can stop this.”

“Me? Why can’t you go talk to her? She's your crush!” Aphmau asked, assuming that was the girl Fenrir had talked about yesterday. 

“Exactly! My father doesn’t allow me to enter the dungeon because I tried to get her out once but my father doesn’t know you so he might not think much of it. My mother might be able to take you to the dungeon under the guise that you just want to say hi to your other friend, you might be able to get to Abbey’s cell.” 

“Your mother is very complicit to your father, are you sure she would do this?” Aphmau asked, unsure of Fenrir’s mother’s position in all of this. 

“My mother is complicated because she loved my father, she wishes that he would go back to the loving man he once was so I bet she’ll help us,” Fenrir answered. 

“Okay, even if I get into the dungeon, what do I ask Abby?” 

“Ask her if she has  _ any _ connections we can use to get out of this, Scaleswind or not. Tell her about the wedding and how I’m sorry I put her in that situation… I really love her.” 

“Awww, that’s so sweet.” Aphmau’s heart melted “I’m sure that she’ll possibly… maybe get with you after all this. You can be the prince to sweep her off her feet.” 

Fenrir laughed “Thank you Aphmau, now I’m going to get Ylva and you can wait here. Hopefully she can get you in the dungeon.” Fenrir thanked her one more time before exiting the room as quickly and as stealthily as he could leaving Aphmau alone in the room. 

It didn’t take long for Fenrir to come back into the room running, Ylva showed up a few seconds later walking like the elegant lady she was. They told Aphmau that Ylva had told the guards guarding the dungeon to do something else and they only had a few minutes for Aphmau to get into the dungeon without anyone seeing or suspecting. Aphmau agreed and followed Ylva to the dungeon room, leaving Fenrir in the room alone to do what he wanted. Ylva told Aphmau that she only had enough time to talk to one person, whether that be Abby or Aphmau’s two other’s friends that were up for her to decide but she could only talk to one. Abby was in the first cellar, Aphmau’s blue-haired friend was the third, and Aphmau’s other friend was in the fourth cell. 

Aphmau knew that she had to talk to Abby but deep down she really just wanted to talk to Katelyn and Laurance, she knew that she would be risking everything by doing that but she just wanted to see if they were okay. She went with the plan anyway and when they got to the dungeon Aphmau headed down and went to the first cell to speak to this Abby. She had to go down a set of ladders before she got to Abby’s actual cell, which was bigger than the cell Aphmau had woken up in yesterday. 

She walked over the cell alerting Abby of her presence and making her turn her head, she raised her eyebrows in confusion and walked over to the Aphmau “Who are you?” 

Aphmau explained who she was, why she was here, what was going on, and why Aphmau needed her. 

“Oh, well I knew about Fenrir getting married, those guards are loud as fuck when they whisper.” She laughed “But yeah I have a way to get out of this place, if the King is being as oppressive as to make his own son marry someone he doesn’t know then we can seek the aid of the Lord of Scaleswind.” 

“The Lord of Scaleswind!?” 

Abby nodded “Nicole Von Rosenburg. She’s a good friend of mine, I’m positive she would help.” 

Aphmau gasped at that name “I know here! I know Nicole! She used to be a really good friend of mine and she used to live in my village!” 

“Wait…” Abby slammed her hand over her mouth “Are you Aphmau Shalashaska!? Nicole had literally told me so much about you and how you disappeared fifteen years ago and how you practically saved her from a forced marriage and all that.” 

Aphmau nodded “How is she doing, is she good a lord?” 

“Oh she’s the best lord anyone could ever ask for-” Abby’s eyes widened in fear, she heard something that Aphmau couldn’t “Someone’s coming. There is a tavern near here that you need to go to, there will be a barkeep there with a chain necklace with an emerald in the middle, once you meet him to tell him ‘The Wind Scales South East Wolves’ he’ll know what it means.”

“Got it, thank you so much.” 

“No problem, by the way, my name is Abby the Golden Heart.” 

Aphmau’s heart dropped, like a hit in the head she started remembering the kind soul that was Jeffory, the man who used a cane but still fought a good fight, the man who let Aphmau and Kitten go, the man who was murdered by Zane. Aphmau’s throat tightened “Jeffory?” She whispered before two large furry paws wrapped around Aphmau’s arms and she was dragged away from Abby. Abby backed away from the cell door and acted like she didn’t know the woman yelling at her. 

Ylva got the guard to let her go and told them that she didn’t know how Aphmau got into the dungeon in the first place but she would be the one to do the punishment which just meant dragging Aphmau away and slightly scolding her for not looking at the time which Aphmau rebutted with that there were not clocked in the dungeon and Ylva had never told her a specific time. Aphmau told Ylva what she needed to do and Ylva agreed to help her but under the condition that after this Aphmau and Fenrir were on their own because she could do nothing more without people being suspicious. Two guards who were on Ylva’s side escorted Aphmau and the Queen to the tavern that Abby was talking of, surprisingly Ylva knew exactly what tavern Abby was talking about. Once again Aphmau was informed that she had a limited amount of time to do what she needed to do before people got worried and suspicions grew. 

Aphmau entered the tavern which was filled with laughter, singing, and overall loudness. The smell of booze made its way into Aphmau’s nose making her eyes water. She moved over to the bar and immediately spotted the barkeep with the chain necklace that had an emerald in the middle, she politely called him over and asked him for a drink. 

“Okay little meif’wa, will that be all?” The barkeep asked with a smile. 

“Oh no,” Aphmau shook her head as she leaned in “the wind scales south east wolves.” 

The man’s eyes widened before resuming back to normal, he nodded and acted as Aphmau had just said she wanted fries “The will blow fast as it can I’m sure, mother nature is tricky with these kinds of things. Now you will no longer have to pay, the drinks on the house.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Be safe… I mean it.” The barkeep said before turning around and tapping on his coworker’s shoulder and whispering something to him. The barkeep that Aphmau had talked to turned around to face a corner and lifted his necklace to his fact…. It was a communication amulet. The barkeep’s coworker made Aphmau’s drink and handed it to her with a smile, she slumped over and began drinking the alcohol, she usually didn’t drink but today was a special case. When she looked out the window she could see Ylva staring her down, Aphmau didn’t care, this was the first time this week that she just… didn’t care. She sat there at the bar sipping away at her drink, soon everything faded away and it was just Aphmau sitting at a bar by herself. It was nice. 

  
  


Aphmau just finished explaining everything that had happened in the past two days, she sat against a part of the tree with Garroth across from her, their legs once again tangled in each other. 

“Aph… I’m so sorry.” He held Aphmau’s hand. 

“I have no idea what to do.” She sniffled “What if Nicole doesn’t come? I don’t even think we can count on Lowell at this point. I can’t find a way to do  _ anything _ at this point and I just… I just don’t want Laurance to die.” 

“Aph, everything is going to be fine. You are going to find a way out of this I promise.” Garroth held onto her hand, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb “You always find your way out of situations like this.” 

“But what if I can’t this time? What if my luck has finally come to an end?” 

“Your luck will never end my lady, you are an extraordinary woman who can do everything and anything she wants. And if  _ you _ can’t find a way out of this I know Laurance will, he is smart and quick on his feet. I always felt like an old man around him.” 

Aphmau laughed and sniffled once more “You aren’t?” 

Garroth rolled his eyes “Very funny, making fun of the grandpa are we?” 

Aphmau laughed harder and her face got brighter, it lifted Garroth’s heart to see her happy once more. “Look,” He started, “you and Laurance need to be there for each other. I feel wrong saying this because I know that you can take care of yourself but it would make me feel better to know that Laurance is protecting you in my absence. One way or another, whether it be divine intervention or not, everyone is going to get out of this alive.” 

Aphmau sighed “I’m trying to think of something.” She looked up at him and said, “I miss you.” 

He smiled softly “I miss you too, now are we going to talk about those cat ears?” 

Aphmau laughed before a loud church bell rang through the world. Aphmau’s heart sank as her vision got blurry and everything got white, she held Garroth’s hand as pressure started lowering on Aphmau’s chest and everything disappeared. She gasped awake staring at the red canopy of the bed she slept in last night. 

She softly groaned and dragged her hands down her face, she raked her hands through her hair and sat up. Fenrir was pacing back in front of his couch with a worried expression. 

“Fenrir?” Aphmau said quietly. 

Fenrir snapped his head, his eyes were wide and his face was angry “Are you kidding me!?” He snapped when walking towards Aphmau “Where were you?” 

“Hm?” Aphmau didn’t know what Fenrir was talking about but it quickly clicked in Aphmau’s head “Oh, I’m so sorry. Uh sometimes when I dream my body goes to another realm it’s weird I know, I can’t control it.” Aphmau apologized. 

Fenrir sighed “I thought you decided to forget everyone we’re trying to save and just leave on your own.” 

“Gods, I would never do that! I mean yeah I bet it would be easy for me but I’m not just gonna let everyone die.” Aphmau said, rubbing her eyes and swinging her legs out of the bed. 

“I mean I would’ve done the same thing since the wedding is today.” 

“The wedding is today!?” 

“I thought you knew!” 

“I’ve been in a state of shock these past two days, keeping track of time hasn’t really been my main priority!” Aphmau snapped back. 

Fenrir groaned and walked back over to the couch again to pace out his worries “We don’t have that much time and I haven’t heard from anyone that could help us…. I don’t think we’re gonna be able to get out of this without being married.” 

Aphmau put her head in her hands, all these work for nothing, all these stress… for nothing! It was all pointless. She looked up at the worried Fenrir “Am I that bad of a fiance?” She joked, trying to lift their moods a little for this terrible day. 

Fenrir looked at Aphmau like she just said a slur “Are you kidding me?” He asked. 

Aphmau put her hands up in defense “Sorry, just trying to make you laugh.” She said walking over to the Prince. 

Fenrir huffed out a laugh “Dears gods you scared me for a second. I thought you might have fallen for my devilish good looks.” He winked. 

Aphmau slapped Fenrir’s arm with a smile “As if!” 

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?” He rubbed his arm in pain.

“So sorry, the wink caught me off guard and my hand slipped,” Aphmau smirked. 

“How does that even happen!?” He shook his hands. 

“Aw did I hurt the little baby?” She fluttered her eyelashes and held her hands together. 

He rolled his eyes “Pfft, in your dreams lady. You really think I could be taken down by you?”

“Yeah.” 

“Abby hits me  _ way _ harder when I fake flirt with her.” He smiled. 

“Oh is that a threat mister?” Aphmau asked, “Cause it sounds like a threat.” 

“If you take it as a threat it may be a threat.” 

“Ohh! This is a challenge right now.” 

“I challenge you to not snore so loudly in your sleep.” He smugly smiled. 

Aphmau gasped “I snore!? Are you kidding me right now?” 

Fenrir was about to say something else when the door opened to see Mino smiling like a mad man, Aphmau turned around to see the king’s aid. 

“Aren’t you two just the cutest little things!” Mino squealed “I knew you two would get along if we locked you in this room together!” He clapped his hands. 

“Oh yes, we’re just so madly in love with each other.” Aphmau fakes a smile as she looked at Fenrir with angry eyes. 

“Yeah, I um… I like your… breathing?” He raised his eyebrow at his own statement. 

“Oh and I like the way you… blink.” Aphmau didn’t want to look at Mino as she held back a laugh. 

“You see, we’re so madly in love with each other that I was complimenting her snoring just before you walked in.” Fenrir smiled, turning his head menacingly at Aphmau “It’s like a majestic dying goat.” 

Aphmau gasped softly “You little bitch.” She whispered. She turned to Mino “Oh Mino you don’t understand how in love with Fenrir I am, this man’s double chin will be the death of me.” 

“Okay, I do not have a double chin.” Fenrir protested. 

“Oh yes, you do.” Aphmau said, tapping the underside of Fenrir’s chin “It’s right there honey. I guess I can only see your perfections.” 

Fenrir leaned in “Are you just insulting me now?” 

“You started it bitch.” She whispered back. 

Mino squealed once more “Look at you two! You are just too cute! Now I hate to ruin this beautiful moment but I have to have the beautiful bride follow me to get ready for her big day. We have to get you dressed, your makeup done, and you have to rehearse a bit. I’ll let you say your goodbyes though so when you are ready just follow me outside.” Mino smiled before exiting the room but not closing the door. 

Fenrir whispered over to her “I think I’ve all hope of us getting out of this.” 

“Not with that attitude we aren’t.” Aphmau whispered back “I assume that we aren’t going to be able to see each other until we’re both at the aisle so just think of anything and everything you can. Even if it’s crazy.” 

Fenrir nodded “Do you think I’ll ever be with Abby?” 

“Of course I do, you will soon marry her and not me.” Aphmau looked out the door and then back to Fenrir, speaking in her normal voice “Okay, well I have to go get ready honey. Be safe.” 

“Be safe,” Fenrir said before Aphmau walked out of the room to follow Mino to whatever he was going to make her do. 

Getting her fitted took a while, rehearing took another long while, and now she was just sitting in a dressing room waiting for someone to come in and dress her and do her makeup. During the entire thing her heart sank lower and lower as she began to lose hope, she was starting to feel like Fenrir which was a little hypocritical of her. 

She sat in the large dressed room slouching down and looking at herself in the large mirror. Her face didn’t feel like her’s, her eyelashes, her mouth, her eyes… they didn’t feel like her’s. She wondered how she would feel with wedding makeup on her, she had been to one wedding already and was actually one of the bridesmaids. She remembered calming Donna down when she was thinking of not marrying Logan, she remembered putting all her feelings for Donna aside and understanding that she could never be the woman in front of her, she remembered telling Donna that if she was really happy with Logan she should marry him, she remembered crying that night. She wished she could marry someone that she really loved and not someone like Fenrir, she had nothing against Fenrir it’s just he wasn’t the person she loved. Who she wanted to be with. As she stared into the mirror more and more her throat got tighter and her eyes were being filled with water. She couldn’t believe that she was in this position, this situation, she never in a million years thought this is where she would end up. 

She picked up her legs and held them close to her chest, trying to feel a little bit of security in this moment. She couldn’t exactly describe the feelings going on in her head but all she knew was that she didn’t want to do this at all. 

The sound of a door opening made her jump a little, she had gotten so in her head she forgot sounds were a thing. She turned her head and saw Ylva making her way towards Aphmau. 

“Hello, pretty lady.” Ylva smiled and went over to Aphmau’s seat “Were you able to find someone to help you?” 

Aphmau shook her head, she didn’t want to speak in fear that she would be too loud, it felt nice not to speak for once. 

“I’m sorry darling. I really wish I could do more but the wedding is in a few hours.” Ylva said sadly “I’ve gotten no intel from Lowell so I don’t think he’ll be your knight in shining armor.” 

“How did you deal with it?” Aphmau asked “Being forced into a marriage and all.” 

“Well, we both obviously didn’t want to do it but it was the tradition at the time. We are actually the only wolf tribe to continue this type of practice.” She took a breath “My husband was a good man, a loving man. He’s become twisted and insane. I truly just want things to go back to the way they were.” 

“Do you think that I’ll ever be able to love Fenrir?” 

Ylva shrugged “Possibly, I mean I learned to love Alo and he learned to love me.” She ran her fingers through Aphmau’s hair in comfort “Now would you like anything to eat? Drink? Read?” 

She had lost her appetite in the last two hours so she wasn’t hungry and she had a glass of water a few minutes ago “Um, something to read would be nice. Could it be something about Lady Irene preferably?” 

“Of course darling. I’ll head to the library and see what I can find.” She took her hand out from Aphmau’s hair “In the meantime, my ladies-in-waiting will be tending to you for the wedding alright?” 

Aphmau nodded. 

Ylva said goodbye and left Aphmau alone once again to contemplate her life while staring at the mirror in front of her. 

The ladies-in-waiting came into the room not long after Ylva left. They immediately started doing Aphmau’s makeup and hair and getting her dressed. They gave her a more natural makeup style, they put her hair in a bun which surprised her from how much hair she had on her head, and they gave her a little veil that tucked into the part where her bun met her head. The dress was beautiful, it was white with peachy undertones and had puffy see-through sleeves that were tied off at the write but flared out a bit. The dress was tighter on the abdomen like a corset but went puffed out when it reached her mid-abdomen, it was so sturdy that Aphmau was pretty sure she could put a glass of water where the dress puffed out and it wouldn’t fall. It fell all the way to the floor and trailed behind her, she had a large ribbon as a belt that tied into a bow in the back. The bouquet that they gave her was all purple flowers which made Aphmau feel a little nice inside but that ruined when one of the ladies-in-waiting told her that she was so jealous that she was marrying the prince. 

Aphmau stood in front of the mirror staring at herself, she didn’t know who she was looking at. This was a completely different person. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying but she knew it was going to come anyway, she knew the tears would start flooding in and she could do nothing to stop it. The pain in her chest rose as her anxiety grew, she just wanted to wake up from this terrible nightmare. She took a deep breath as Ylva entered the room once again but now holding a book.

Aphmau turned around, Ylva smiled at her. 

“Don’t you look pretty?” Ylva asked as Aphmau went over to her. 

A tear rolled down Aphmau’s cheek, Ylva's heart broke and she wiped the tear from Aphmau’s cheek “Please don’t cry.” She said softly.

“I’m crying?” Aphmau asked, “I didn’t know.” 

“A tear rolled down your cheek.” 

“Oh.” Aphmau looked down and sniffled, she pointed at the book “You found one about Irene?” 

“Oh yes!” Ylva took her hand off Aphmau and handed her the book, it was titled ‘ _ O amor de uma deusa _ ’ which meant “The Love of a Goddess” in Portuguese according to Ylva. “Ironically it’s about Irene’s love life.” 

“Oh, funny.” Aphmau faked a laugh and took the book, it felt like it was about to fall apart in her hands. 

“Well, I’ll leave you be. Mino will be coming in to get you soon, it’s almost time.” Ylva said, “I’m sorry there’s nothing more I can do.” 

“It’s okay.” 

Ylva opened her mouth like she was about to say something more but she just closed her mouth and nodded, she snapped her fingers and her ladies-in-waiting followed her out the door. Aphmau sighed and walked back over to her chair in front of the mirror. The book looked to be dated about eight-hundred years ago, it showed it from how brittle it was in Aphmau’s hands. This seemed to be the seventh book in a series titled ‘ _ A Scholar’s Travels _ ’.

In my previous book I’ve covered many different aspects of Lady Irene. However, there are a few topics I have yet to touch on. Really there are so many fascinating things about her that seven books don’t even begin to scratch the surface! I might have to make multiple books about the same topic, only more so expanding on them. In any case, this book will go over my recent finding of Irene’s love life. It’s not much at the moment but I’m still investigating more into it. Honestly it’s not a subject I’m particularly suave in. I feel like Irene’s love life should be kept personal, but at the same time if I don’t document it then who will?… Maybe more people than I think really… love is after all that makes the world go round, har! Enough of my witty humor… Irene was known to have many possible suitors. In her travels, she came across many people who took interest in her, mostly mortals. However I have uncovered a clue that proves she might have been romantically involved with a fellow Divine Warrior! 

_ I knew that already _ Aphmau thought  _ She was with Esmund… right? Maybe I’m wrong…. Do I really know who she ended up with? _ She continued reading the book. 

In the ruins of a lost village, I found painted scriptures that showed images of what looks like Irene being held in the arms of a being of power however the image of the potential love interest was scratched out, not just on that scripture parchment but a few others as well! It was almost as if someone despised the images of the two together and tried to remove it… well, they were successful, I can’t tell who the person is! Could it be Shad, Esmund, Menphia!? It’s too interesting to not look further into!

But wait… what if it’s a being of power we have no record of? That wouldn’t be good for my research notes now would it?

Aphmau reading was interrupted by Mino clapping his hands and appearing behind Aphmau scaring her. 

“Dear Irene Mino! Don’t scare me like that!” She scolded. 

“I’m so sorry miss I thought you heard me call your name, I guess you were too into your book.” Mino apologized. 

Aphmau closed the book and took a deep breath “It’s time isn’t it?” 

Mino nodded “Oh and I have some fantastic news for you! The King was kind enough to allow your Laurance to attend the wedding! Unfortunately we cannot allow your other friend or Fenrir’s Abby to attend, but Laurance was a special case! Of course, he's going to be restrained for obvious reasons but how perfect is it that he gets to see you getting married before he dies! At least he’ll know you’re happy!” 

“Right… happy.” Aphmau sniffled “Can we just get this over with?” 

“Of course!” Mino clapped his hands “Will the beautiful bride follow me?” 

Aphmau nodded and stood up, grabbing her bouquet and following Mino as he led her to her ‘doom’. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO TWITCH CHAT @ TWITCH.TV/YEAAAAAAAHHHH ALDSJFLAKJSDFJK   
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING TILL THE END IT JUST MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!   
> So!! I'm not sure if you guys are aware but I am very into mcyt and Dream SMP things like that and recently (Like a month or so ago idk) I started really liking the ship Dreamnap (Dream x Sapnap) NOW!! I do not ship *them* as in I do not ship their IRL selves I more ship their DSMP selves (so more DSMP!Dream and DSMP!Sapnap) and I've started writing a fic about the two of them and I kinda want to write another one. I don't want to be bullied but would it be okay to post those fics on here? I'm still doing MCD and I won't stop writing for it but I'm also writing something else and I want to see if you guys would be uncomfortable with knowing that I like that ship/write fanfic for that ship.   
> I know that this is my Ao3 account and I can do whatever I want w/ it but I just don't to make anyone uncomfortable!! I would love your guys' feedback on this!!!   
> My twitter is @/ Ur_FavAlien if you ever want to contact me through there, I don't post updates to this story or any of my other stories but you guys are still free to follow me <3 <3 <3


	7. A Red Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THERE ARE DEPICTIONS/DESCRIPTIONS OF HEAVY VIOLENCE AND HORRIFIC ACTS. THERE ARE ALSO THEMES OF PTSD, DEPRESSION, ABUSE, AND OTHER TRIGGERING THINGS UNDER THOSE CATEGORIES!! IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY ANY OF THOSE THINGS BE PLEASE AWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE READING!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I hope you really like this chapter despite the trigger warning and if any of those triggers apply to you I would suggest not reading this chapter or just not reading this book in general as I do try and make this series much more... descriptive and there are some serious fight scenes in the MCD series so.... yeah  
> BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING!!1 LOVE YOU GUYS!!

There were rows and rows of people in white chairs looking at Aphmau as she walked down the white carpeted aisle. Her cat ears twitched as her anxiety grew. Her dress trailed behind her as she walked forward and her grip on the bouquet in her hands was so tight her hands started hurting. The King and Fenrir were both looking at Aphmau with two different expressions but they were both flaunting their werewolf side. They were outside with the night sky being a beautiful black void with tiny pinpoint stars and a gigantic moon casting a spotlight on the altar at the end of the aisle. There was a flower arch over the altar which was beautiful but Aphmau was too worried about the fact that she was about to be married.

Laurance was sitting in the front row on the right side with his hands tied to the back of the chair. Mino was sitting next to him and a few werewolf guards were standing behind him, ready for whatever he had stocked. He was emitting such an evil feeling it made Aphmau sick.

“I’m so sorry,” Aphmau whispered as she passed by Laurance. This wedding had such a somber feeling it was surprising if anyone was smiling. 

Aphmau stood in front of Fenrir “I’m so sorry.” She whispered, “I couldn’t think of anything, I feel so bad.” 

“It’s fine.” He mouthed “We’re okay.” 

“Gathered here under the glow of our Lunar Goddess, we come together to celebrate a love like no other.” The King announced. Aphmau was pretty sure that no goddess would approve of this.

“Two different creature tribes together for the first time in history, uniting to bring prosperity to our land!” The King turned to his son “Fenrir, son of the moon… do you take this beautiful flower of the sun, Aphmau, to be your wife?” 

Fenrir looked at Aphmau with sad eyes, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath “I do.” 

The king turned to Aphmau “Flower of the sun, do you take this son of the moon, Fenrir, to be your husband?” 

Aphmau looked at Laurance, he was gritting his teeth and looking at Mino with eyes that could kill. She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Fenrir “I d-” 

Laurance yelled out in anger and a flash of red consumed his being, making Aphmau close her eyes from how bright the flash was. When she opened them back up Fenrir had dragged her to the far right away from the altar to protect her, Laurance was standing in full Shadow Knight armor and was around nine feet tall with a red glow around him. He had Mino’s body and the body of a few werewolf guards around him on the floor as he stood there with his sword in hand, he had blood all over him and was breathing heavily, his eyes were bloody red which shook Aphmau to her core when she got a glimpse of them. His sword was dripping blood from the bodies around him. 

“I won’t let you do this to her!” His voice shook the castle and everyone in it “Not without going through me first!” 

“What!?” The King gasped “He’s a Shadow Knight!? You fool attack him!” 

A few werewolf guards went to attack Laurance but he just killed them with a simple cut through the torso, the others when going to attack the Shadow Knight just got kicked or punched away into a wall or the floor. Laurance snapped his head towards the King, the King backed away in fear as the Shadow Knight progressed for him. The King pleaded for his survival but Laurance didn’t succumb to his begging. He brought his sword above his head before bringing it down onto the middle of the King’s head, cutting it straight through the middle of his face before taking it out and kicking him off the balcony. Everyone screamed in terror as Laurance turned around slowly to face everyone else, some people made a run for the exit while others stood there in fear.

Laurance took a good look at everyone in front of him, Fenrir and Aphmau cowering in the corner afraid that they were going to be the next ones to have their lives taken by Laurance. Ylva stood in front of her ladies-in-waiting to protect them from the crazed man, everyone else was either crying along or hugging someone while crying. A part of Laurance told him to keep going, make sure that there were no survivors, make sure that the entire balcony was a pool of blood when he was done, get his immortality, kill Aphmau. As he looked around his heart began to crack and break, he didn’t want to hurt these people, he knew that they were good people, not all of them deserved to die but… it would be so easy to just kill them all. He took off his helmet and let both his sword and helmet drop to the floor as tears fell from his eyes, he missed his dad, he missed Cadenza… why couldn’t he just have died when he sacrificed himself to save Aphmau and Castor, why couldn’t he just have died? 

He dropped down to his knees as he stopped glowing and his eyes went back to the normal dark red that they were after he gained his vision back. He tried to wipe the blood off his face but there always seemed to be more and more blood. It was just useless to try and get it off. He sat down on his legs and looked up at the sky, gasping for air as the crying got more violent, and more tears streamed down his face. This wasn’t the Laurance he knew, this wasn’t the Laurance he wanted to know, the Laurance _he_ knew would protect people and not senselessly kill them. The Laurance _he_ knew would only kill the villains, no one else… but maybe he was the villain he could finally get rid of this life, maybe if he was the villain someone like _Laurance_ would kill him. Yeah… maybe he should be the villain. 

He grabbed the sword to his right and went to go position it to his stomach but someone screamed and snatched the sword out of his hands. The person grabbed his face as they yelled at him. 

“You are _not_ doing this!” Aphmau screamed at the man “You are _not_ doing this!” 

“Aph?” Laurance whispered “Please.” 

“No, no, no.” She cried “I need you alive, I need you with me, I need to protect you and you need to protect me.” 

“Let me be the villain.” He whimpered. 

“Bullshit, you are not the villain and never will be. You are Laurance, a good man, a good friend, a good guard.” She made the man look at her, her tearful gross self. “And you are _not_ dying on me.”

“I don’t want to live like this, I don’t want to think like this.” 

“I know, I know and I don’t know how to make that stop but all I know is that ending it is not the answer.” She cried “I know it seems easy and I know it seems like everything will go away and be fine but you can’t…. I need you.” 

He looked down at Aphmau and went to her level “You need me?” He asked. 

She nodded “So many people need you, Dante, Malachi, so many people.” 

“You need me?” 

“Yeah, I need you a lot.” She took a deep breath as she looked at the man in front of her, he meant so much to her that it was insane. She didn’t know how to make him know that she needed and cared for him so she said the only thing that came to her head “I need to kiss you.” 

Before words escaped Laurance’s lips he went in to kiss the woman he had loved for so long. He took off his gloves as quickly as he could so he could feel Aphmau through his hands, he felt her through his cheeks, his nose, his scalp, his neck, his mouth. Gods, the feeling that arose when Aphmau’s lips connected to his, was like it was always meant to be, it was beautiful. It was like fireworks were going off and Aphmau and Laurance were the only beings left alive. 

She cried as she gripped the man’s hair in her hands, he was so warm, he was so safe, Aphmau could spend the rest of her life in this moment, it was such an amazing feeling. It was insane to her that she had now kissed both of the men that she was so dearly in love with, she couldn’t deal with it. 

Laurance was the one to pull back to allow both of them some air. Laurance swept the hair out of Aphmau’s face “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay, you’re okay, we’re okay.” 

“We’re okay.” Laurance agreed “I’m so sorry.” He apologized once more. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Aphmau wiped the tears from the man’s eyes “You have nothing to be sorry for, you’re okay.”

Laurance’s armor started fading away and he shrunk back to his normal height. He was in the clothes he was in before he turned and the darkness that emitted off him was no more. He still was a meif’wa just like Aphmau. 

She ran her fingers through his hair “I missed you.” 

“I missed myself.” 

A door slammed “SHOWS OVER BOYS!” 

Aphmau and Laurance snapped their heads towards the staircase up to the door, Belladonna, Kitten, Katelyn, and Abby were all standing there out of breath. 

“Katelyn? Abby!?” 

“What are you guys doing here?” Laurance asked, standing up and bringing Aphmau with him. 

“Getting you out of here genius!” Kitten yelled.

A tap on her shoulder made Aphmau jump, she turned around to see Ylva standing there with a look of worry on her face. “Are you both okay?” 

“ _I’m_ fine.” 

“That’s good, do your friends have a plan out of here?” 

“How are you so calm!?” Aphmau asked, “Your husband just died!” 

“Sorry about that, by the way.” Laurance apologized awkwardly.

“Call me cold if you will but with my husband gone many more lives will have been spared than what was taken here. Fenrir is probably going to go on rampage so I suggest getting out of here now.” She advised, “Now there is a secret exit in the dungeon in cell four on the wall, use it before the guards from outside swarm the castle.” 

“Thank you so much, Ylva.” Aphmau said. 

“I’m sorry about your aid!” Laurance said before the pair ran towards Belladonna and the group. 

Belladonna quickly explained everything that happened on their trip here and how they found them. According to them they found Michi and basically threatened her to tell them where you guys were, it took them a little over a day to get here because they ‘hell traveled’ which Aphmau had no idea what that meant but she believed them, and now they are here running with Aphmau. Also, Kitten was Amada in her bag, she was safe. 

Aphmau told Belladonna and Kitten that there was a secret exit in the fourth cell which Kitten already knew about, Belladonna quickly hit her in the arm for saying that as that kinda exposed _what_ she was. 

They made it to the dungeon with a few inconveniences that Kitten and Belladonna took care of and headed down into the cell area where they entered the fourth cell and quickly found the exit that was behind a wall. They ran and ran for hours until they were in the middle of the forest and Laurance collapsed on the forest floor. Aphmau’s wedding dress was caked on with dirt, mud, other liquids, and blood splatters from the massacre that Laurance committed. 

They all kinda fell to the floor and just took a breather, they had been running for a while so it was justified. Kitten handed Amada to Aphmau and Aphmau’s heart began to rise, everything had been so bad today she just wanted to be with her dog. 

Belladonna and Kitten laid down next to Aphmau and explained what really happened. They knew that Michi was going to kidnap them but if Michi didn’t kidnap them nothing major would change so that’s why Belladonna was so admit that everyone ate on the boat if they wanted food because Michi’s food had Rohypnol in it which was basically a kidnapping drug after Michi drugged the group Kitten and Belladonna waited about two-ish hours until they were supposed to head to the castle so the ‘timeline’ would be correct, sadly Kitten goes tired and said ‘fuck it’ and teleported Belladonna, Amada, and her to the castle because in actuality the trip to the castle would’ve taken them little over than a week. Supposedly as a Titan, you can just… teleport to places which made Aphmau a little mad that they never told her but also they could never use it around anyone to make sure nothing terrible happened. 

Aphmau was the only one allowed to know this for obvious reasons. 

Abby was the first one to speak up to the entire group “Will someone please tell me what the _fuck_ is going on!?” 

Aphmau felt like since she was the 'main character’ in all of this that she was obligated to tell Abby everything, which she did. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Abby said after hearing the story “I thought that I was just taken prisoner because I refused to be the King’s mercenary but gods… that much worse.” 

“Fenrir is fine.” Laurance called out “Just wanted to let you know since you guys seem pretty close.” 

“I can’t take part in this.” Abby looked in fear at everyone like they were about to kill her “I can’t be in your guys’ little party, I-I can’t. I’m leaving. This is something I _cannot_ have on my hands.”

“What!?” 

“Look, I thank you all sincerely for saving me, I really do. However, I cannot have this on my hands, even if I wasn’t directly responsible, I am associated with you. I will not let this get in the way of my revenge.” She started walking backward “If we meet again just know that you’ve got a friend to rely on. I need to leave.” She said before running off. 

Aphmau gasped “What the fuck!? Abby, I know your dad! Jeffory! I know him, I-I _knew_ him!” Aphmau's attempts at Abby staying were useless as she ran deeper into the forest. Aphmau’s throat was so raw from the cold air going into her throat that she really didn’t feel like yelling anymore. 

“Jeffory?” Katelyn whimpered “Did you just say Jeffory? Like Jeffory the Golden Heart?” 

Aphmau turned to Katelyn “Oh yeah, uh… Jeffory is Abby’s dad.” 

Katelyn’s eyes went wide “Are you kidding me!? I know her! I- ugh!” She groaned and stood up “I knew she looked familiar and I allowed her to leave!? You allowed her to leave!? Why?” 

“Well, I couldn’t really stop her!” Aphmau yelled, “Were you not paying attention!?” 

“Dear Irene, did you even think about telling me that she was Jeffory’s daughter?” 

“I haven’t seen you in like two days! I’ve actually had _no_ time to tell you about her!” 

“Bullshit! You could’ve told me about her while we were running!” 

“Oh really? Did you just want me to stop running and be like ‘Oh hey, while we’re running for our lives I just wanted to tell you that’s Jeffory’s daughter you're running with’, huh?” Aphmau stood up. 

“Yeah actually!” Katelyn rolled her eyes “I have to go find her! Abby!” Katelyn ran after the mercenary. 

“Wait, Katelyn!” Aphmau yelled after the woman as she ran away, Aphmau sighed. She turned back to Belladonna and Kitten and also saw that Laurance was no longer in his collapsed position but gone. Kitten noticed Aphmau’s worry and looked behind her. 

“Oh shit.” Kitten said nonchalantly “Uh, should we go look for him?” 

“I’ll go left, Aph you go right, Kitten stays here if you want.” Belladonna stood up and headed past Aphmau, while Aphmau handed Amada to Kitten and went in the direction Laurance’s body _was_. 

It took her almost twenty minutes to find where Laurance was, he was by a pond with his legs in the water and looking down at his reflection. Aphmau could feel that he was in a sensitive moment right now; she quietly removed her flats, went over to the pond, and sat next to Laurance. 

They sat there in silence for a while, just feeling the cool water against their feet and taking in the fresh air that the pond made so much fresher. Everything around the pond was so pretty, from the vines, the flowers, the trees, the lily pads, it was all so relaxing for Aphmau who felt like everything was going too fast. 

Laurance was the one to speak up. 

“Am I a monster?”

“What? No, no you’re not and you’ll never be.” Aphmau turned her head towards the man. 

“You’re only saying that because you want to wish it were not true, but it is. This is the reality of me.” 

“No it is not, you may be a Shadow Knight but that does not make you a monster. You are a good man.” 

“Did you kiss the Shadow Knight Laurance or the good guy Laurance?” 

“What type of-” 

“You kissed someone, and up until this point you’ve never been open about love, especially your love towards _that_ person. Right now I’m not even sure if you kissed me or them.” He turned towards Aphmau “I thought it was a dream and I still don’t think that it actually happened.” 

“I kissed _you_ . I kiss a guy named Laurance but if it helps you to think that I kissed someone else then… go for it.” She held his hand “I didn’t kiss you to show that you need me I kissed you to show that _I_ need _you_ , and that whether or not you're a Shadow Knight I wanted you to know that I need you.” 

Laurance sucked in a breath, he bit his lip as tears brimmed his eyes “I love you.” He said bluntly “But I can’t, I can’t love you in the way that I _want_ to because I know someone that possibly loves you even more.” 

Aphmau shook her head in confusion, in the moment she wasn’t really thinking of anyone else that could love her. 

“My first trip to Phoenix Drop, on the last day, Garroth had come up to me just as I was departing. He had made a mention that I should not act so ‘ungentlemanlike around you which basically meant he didn’t want me to flirt with you. I told him right then and there that I had every intention of taking your heart and sweeping you off your feet and when I said that he… he told me of his feelings for you as well.” 

“He did?” 

“Yeah, I had asked him why he didn’t just take you for himself and he said he didn’t know how and that he was too anxious to come up to you and ask you a question like that. I told him that I would give him some time but when I came back if he wasn’t with you then you were mine.” He laughed to himself “I then ended up becoming a part of Phoenix Drop myself. Garroth and I grew closer as friends and even called each other ‘brother’ along with Dante. I told Garroth many times that he needed to tell you how he felt, heck I even went as far as trying to help him.” 

“Why?” She asked, her throat was getting tighter and tears were brimming her eyes. 

“Why not? I respect and care for him as my friend. I value the people I care about even if their values hurt me sometimes.” He fully turned to Aphmau, his hand slowly went to her face to hold it “I just… I want you Aph and I know that it would hurt Garroth so much but I just… Aph?” 

She bit her lip as tears fell from her eyes “I’m such a terrible person.” She gasped. “I’m such a terrible _terrible_ person.” 

“What? Why what’s wrong?” 

“I know you were talking about your problems and I don’t want to switch it onto me-” 

“Hey, no, it’s fine, I trade it off to you. I talked and now it’s your turn.” 

Aphmau sniffled “I just… I love you, I really do but I also love Garroth and I love him so much. I love both of you so much that it literally drives me insane because I don’t know who I’m supposed to choose or if I’m even supposed to choose and reject both of you or what if I’m supposed _to_ be with both of you? Also I’m still wondering if I like girls, what if I’m supposed to end up with a beautiful woman, or what if I’m just insane and thinking _way_ too deep into my friendships with people.” She took a deep breath “I kissed both you and Garroth and it was so nice, but it only made me more confused on who I want to be with. And the worst part is that I still don’t even know if I love you guys platonically or romantically.” 

Laurance nodded “Yeah I can see how that would be frustrating. I didn’t even know you were dealing with that. I'm so sorry.” 

“Don’t be, don’t be I mean I was the one that kissed you and if I was going to totally freak out about it then I shouldn’t have kissed you.” She sniffled, tears still running down her face. 

“Hey, I’ve never really actually asked you out I guess so why not I propose that we get Garroth out of the Irene Dimension this year somehow, and when he does I’ll tell him that I won’t hold back anymore and that if he doesn’t make you his first then I will. But if you still haven’t decided yet, that’s fine.” He smiled softly “You okay with that?” 

Aphmau nodded “Yeah, yeah that sounds fi-” 

Laurance lifted a finger to Aphmau’s mouth. His head was turned and his eyes were wide, he looked like a dog when something rustled in the bushes. He slowly stood up and shook his legs off before walking away leaving Aphmau even more confused. She stood up and shook off her legs, getting tired of the dress and simply ripping most of it off leaving it just at her knees, she followed behind Laurance who was now sneaking towards where he heard the sound. 

He motioned Aphmau to stop as he moved closer to wherever the sound that he heard came from, Aphmau waited for some time for a signal to know that she could continue following him before she heard the sound of someone being punched which was very frightening for her. She ran over to where she presumed Laurance got punched, his unconscious body was at the foot of a very tall woman who was wearing a red hijab. 

“HOLY SHIT! YOU DON’T JUST DO THAT TO SOMEONE MAN!” The woman yelled “DEAR IRENE!” The woman hopped on her feet in either excitement or the fact that she was having an adrenaline rush. She looked up and froze. 

Aphmau knew that voice and hijab anywhere “Nicole?” 

“Please tell me this isn’t a dream.” She walked over Laurance’s body “I just realized you have cat years… this is a dream.” 

Aphmau went and lightly pinched the woman “It’s isn’t a dream.” 

Nicole’s eyes widened “AHHHHH!” She squealed as she jumped up and down “It’s you it’s really you! I never thought I’d see you again! I swear that dude I just punched looked _exactly_ like Laurance!”

“It’s because it is.” Aphmau laughed. 

Nicole snorted “Oh dear Irene I just knocked out Laurance.” She sighed “Oh it’s so good to see you Aph.” 

“It’s so good to see you too! I assume you want to know where I’ve been for the past fifteen years?” 

“I mean I would love to but I have to save a comrade who issued out a distress call.” 

“Oh, I’m assuming you’re talking about Abby right?” Nicole nodded and Aphmau explained that Abby called the distress call for them and that Abby was now safe but she had run off and that everyone else was safe as well too. 

“Okay that’s good, I was looking forward to a rescue mission but that’s good too. Now I have a caravan that I came in like a mile back so if you want to get everyone we can load up Laurance and head to Scaleswind.” 

Aphmau sucked in a breath “How long is it going to take?” 

“A little over three days, I was already close here so it didn’t take me that long to head over here.” Nicole explained. 

“Yeah, that’ll be fine.” Aphmau nodded “I’ll go get everyone and you can get Laurance right?” 

Nicole laughed “I mean I punched him it’s kinda an obli-” She froze, she whipped her head to look past Aphmau’s shoulder and furrowed her eyebrows “Do you hear that?” 

“Dear Irene, what is it with all these noises?” Aphmau whispered. 

Nicole carefully walked past an annoyed Aphmau to check out what the sound was, Aphmau ignored it and went over to Laurance’s unconscious body and lifted him from his armpits. The sound of someone being punched once again made Aphmau frightened and she turned around, Katelyn was standing over Nicole’s knocked out body with Kitten standing next to her with a face of shock. 

“KATELYN!” Kitten and Aphmau both yelled, making the woman roll her eyes. 

“What!? I thought it was a bandit or something! How was I supposed to know it was… someone?” 

“Nicole Von Rosenburg, the _Lord_ of Scaleswind.” Aphmau corrected. 

“I just knocked out the Lord of Scaleswind?” Katelyn wheezed. 

Kitten nodded “Smart move kitty cat.” 

“I'll fucking kill you.” Katelyn threatened with her gauntlets which she now had on. 

“Yo!” Aphmau called out and pointed at Katelyn’s gauntlets “You could’ve killed her with those things!”

“I only kill people if I want to kill them okay, these gauntlets are mind activated.” Katelyn snapped. 

“We still have to carry Nicole back to her own caravan and explain to her guards why some strangers have an unconscious Lord of Scaleswind in their arms.” Aphmau scolded. 

“Pfft, everything will be fine.” Katelyn brushed off “... hopefully.” 

“Hopefully!?” 

They were able to get Laurance and Nicole onto the caravan without any struggle and were able to explain their situation without getting immediately murdered by Nicole’s guards. There were clothes in the caravan so Aphmau was able to change out of that restricting wedding dress, she also got to change shoes which was nice because that entire run from the castle her feet were not being supported at all by those stupid flats she was wearing. Katelyn informed Aphmau that sadly all their shit was burned but the only reason Katelyn’s gauntlets didn’t burn was that they were blessed from a fireward and literally couldn’t burn, this sent Aphmau into a small spiral because that meant that the sword was gone, the sword that Dante had kept after she left and the sword that Dante had practically entrusted her with even though it was hers. So right now the only person that had a physical weapon was Katelyn because Sadly Belladonna and Kitten didn’t take their physical weapons and they only had their magicks which was not at all that great. Nicole and Laurance woke up in the middle of the first day to Scaleswind and were very confused about where they were and why they were there. Kitten was the one to explain everything because everyone else just didn’t want to. The second day wasn’t eventful either, Nicole just talks to them a bit, they stopped for food and then went back on the road, sleeping for most of the day and just relaxing, and the only reason why the third day was eventful was that they were finally getting closer to Scaleswind and the group could finally see what a Scaleswind under Nicole looked like. They finally got to Scaleswind around nine-ish pm and Aphmau wanted to appreciate the beauty that was Scaleswind but she was just too tired for all of that. The walls around Scaleswind seemed to be expanding which meant that Scaleswind was taking more land, the area was filled with the sounds of happy people which confirmed the fact that Nicole was an amazing Lord, everything was so beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, everything just fit together so perfectly. After getting to Nicole’s mansion finally they all split off into the guest rooms that Nicole showed them to and passed out, worrying about what they would do tomorrow. 

Weirdly, Kitten and Belladonna had Aphmau, Katelyn, and Laurance’s things that they brought onto the boat with them even though when they came to the castle to rescue them they had nothing in their hands. All Kitten said about the matter was that she felt bad which got Aphmau to assume that somehow Kitten and Belladonna took the stuff from the boat with their divine powers so Aphmau didn’t want to press further in the situation to protect Belladonna and Kitten’s identity because Aphmau knew they didn’t really like talking about it. Katelyn and Laurance didn’t think much of it and just thanked the pair for getting their stuff. 

Aphmau stood, leaning on her balcony looking over the city that was Scaleswind. The cool air against her face made her feel calm and relaxed, something she needs for the past few days her heart has been beating extra fast and she didn’t know why, maybe it was everything that happened, her confusion over her love life, or just stupid shit that she didn’t know. 

“YOU LITTLE BITCH!” 

“KATELYN!” 

“YOU CAN’T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!” 

Aphmau’s door slammed open and a boy with light purple hair and wearing what looked to be a traditional judogi outfit which Aphmau knew about from Brenden and Kiki talking about being Asian. He was holding both of Katelyn’s gauntlets which were way too big for his little hands. 

“What is going on!?” Aphmau yelled. 

“This little _brat_ took my weapons!” Katelyn snapped. 

“They’re not yours, dumb lady they’re my mom's!” The kid shouted. 

“Dmitri!” Nicole snapped “Don’t talk like that!” 

“Did you just call me dumb!?” Katelyn kicked the little boy’s legs under himself making him fall on his side, she snatched up her gauntlets and stared at the little boy with daggers. 

“Dear Irene Katelyn! He’s just a boy!” Nicole went over to the sniffing boy and picked up him “What was with you, honey?” 

“She took your stuff! She’s got weapons just like yours!” Dmitri cried. 

“You should learn to ask if it’s even my stuff in the first place. Now, will you apologize to Katelyn for taking her stuff?” Nicole asked. 

“She kicked me!” 

Nicole sighed and turned her head “Katelyn, will you please apologize to my son for kicking him?” 

“I’m sorry for kicking you, next time don’t take my stuff.” 

Nicole turned to her son with pursed lips, Dmitri sniffled “Sorry…” He mumbled. 

“With less attitude this time mister.”

He sighed “I’m sorry Miss. Katelyn for taking your weapons which I thought were my moms.” 

“Hmph, it’s fine just don’t do it again.” Katelyn fixed the gauntlets onto her person and fixed her tied-up hair. 

Nicole smirked, “alan 'uriduk 'an tujri eshr lifat hawl alsaalat.” She told her son in a different language [Now I want you to do ten laps around the halls.]

The boy gasped “madha!? la!” [What!? No!]

“'ana asif , hdha lays lilanqasha. sa'uetik shyyana litaewidih , hsnana?” [I'm sorry, well, this is not up for discussion. I'll give you something to make up for it, okay?]

“hal yumkinuni ela alaql faeal dhlk mae nyk? raja'?” [Can I at least do it with nick? Please?]

Nicole thought for a moment before nodding “hsnana , lkn adhhab lilnawm baed dhlk , adhhab alan lilrakdi. 'ahbabik.” [Okay, but go to sleep after that, now go jogging. I love you.]

“wa'ana ahbuk 'ayda!” The boy said before running off out of the room. [I love you too]

Aphmau stood in confusion and shock at the two women in front of her “What was that?” She asked. 

“The arabic or everything?” Nicole asked. 

“Both.” 

“Dmitri stole Katelyn’s weapons thinking they were mine, we chased him around a bit, ended up here, and I just told him to go run ten laps since he deserves it for being a brat.” She smiled and turned to Katelyn “You can go back in your room now I’m so sorry for waking you up.” 

“Oh don’t be, I love some early morning action.” Katelyn laughed before heading out of the room and saying her quick goodbyes. 

Nicole’s laughter faded as she turned her attention back to Aphmau “He’s a little firecracker that boy, my dad says he’s too much like me.” 

The puzzle pieces in Aphmau’s mind clicked “Oh is he your son?” She asked. 

She nodded with a smile “He’s the best thing to ever happen to me and the worst thing to ever happen to my body.” She lightly slapped her lower abdomen. 

Aphmau sucked in a breath “I could never imagine giving birth that sounds like a nightmare.” 

“It was, so terrible, so much blood.” Nicole seemed as if she was having flashbacks to a terrible time in her life. 

“Eh, I’m sorry. So who’s the father?” Aphmau asked, excited to hear about Nicole’s life after the fifteen-year time jump. 

Nicole’s smile faded “Yeah uh… he died… he died before Dmitri was born.” She nodded and bit her tongue “I don’t really like talking about it.” 

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry for your loss. I bet you’ve been a great mom to Dmitri even with that setback.” Aphmau apologized. 

“Thank you Aph, that's very sweet of you. I’m going to go see how breakfast is going because I sure know that you would want that before anything else. After we eat you and I are going to sit down and talk about everything that’s happened and where the fuck you got those cat ears and just… where you were and all it okay? Make yourself at home during that time okay?” 

Aphmau nodded “Will do captain.” Aphmau saluted Nicole. 

The hijabi rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, sticking her tongue out at Aphmau before closing the door. 

Aphmau didn’t do much after Nicole left, she just sat on the floor of the balcony and looked through the bars out into Scaleswind like she was doing before the disturbance of Katelyn and Dmitri. She wondered how Nicole was going to react to the Phoenix Alliance and if she would join, Aphmau knew Nicole but like Cadenza she might have a council that doesn’t know Aphmau which would be worrying. Belladonna was a good negotiator though so Aphmau wasn’t too worried if they had to go in front of a council. 

After a couple of minutes of just sitting around taking in, the fresh air Aphmau went downstairs to see if breakfast was ready, which it was as Nicole was putting the food on the plates around the dining table as Belladonna and Laurance talked to each other and Kitten and Katelyn were nowhere to be seen. Amada was already eating in a little dog bowl that Nicole had prepared. Aphmau sat down next to Belladonna because she figured that would be less embarrassing with all the shit going on between her and Laurance. After giving out all the food Nicole gave herself some food and went right into conversation with everyone on what was going on in their lives and why it happened. Aphmau was the main one to explain everything with Belladonna coming in to talk about the Phoenix Alliance which intrigued Nicole a lot and Laurance coming in to explain the whole Shadow Knight situation with Zenix, the Shadow Lord, and Sasha. Kitten and Katelyn came down mid-way into the story and simply sat and listened to Aphmau as she went about everything that’s happened since they got back, Kitten was the one to explain the whole Irene Dimension situation because Aphmau had brushed over that entire thing.

“Holy shit.” Nicole said in shock after being silent for a while, Aphmau had thought for a second she had scared the poor girl off “You guys have been through a lot.” 

Everyone kinda awkwardly laughed because obviously some of the stuff that they went through wasn’t the greatest. 

“I can’t even imagine how- … you know what, you probably hear that a lot from everyone. I’m just glad you guys are safe - out of all this it’s still so insane that you went all Shadow Knight, that’s just… insane. How did you like… get out of that?” Nicole asked Laurance. 

“Well, I kinda… even though in that mentality, in that state, I’m a psychopath and I believe that I could do anything there was a part of me that told me that even though they were all putting Aphmau through this terrible marriage they didn’t all deserve to die. I kinda just fought with myself for a quick minute until I just… collapsed.” He’s face was emotionless throughout the explanation, it was heartbreaking to see him like that. 

“Yeah and then I had this epic fight with him and I kinda just punched the Shadow Knight out of him,” Aphmau added. 

Nicole snorted “Really? We should really spare some time.” 

“Bring it.” 

Nicole looked shocked “Okay fuck it let’s fucking go!” She hopped up but froze immediately “Goddammit!” She kicked the air slightly and sat back down. 

“What?” Aphmau laughed. 

“I tell Dmitri that we can’t brawl in the house unless it’s self-defense. I hate having to set examples.” Nicole sighed “But did you really have to fight Laurance?”

Aphmau laughed and shook her head “No I didn’t have to fight Laurance, Laurance did the whole calming down all on his own.” 

“She helped a bit when she kissed him,” Kitten added. 

Aphmau choked on her drink. 

Nicole gasped “So are you two like…?” She intertwined her two fingers and smirked. 

“No sadly, she doesn’t care for me enough.” Laurance joked. 

Aphmau gasped “Rude!” 

“Could you not take it anymore by looking at him? The hot guy who suddenly turned into a bad boy because his woman was going to marry another man!?” She fake gasped “I bet you liked smooching Laurance!” 

“Nicole!” Aphmau scolded “What is wrong with you!?”

“Nah, Nah, Nah, nah see here’s how I imagine it: Full moon, the wedding taking place, Laurance objects but the audience doesn’t agree with him so he kills them, then you're just like ‘Laurance take me!’, and then-” She began to make kissing noises and putting her hands on her body making everyone laugh.

“Oh, that’s totally what happened.” Laurance pointed out “To the ‘T’!” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “Is that how you got with Dmitri’s dad?” 

“Uh yeah duh, I was just such a badass that he fell in love with me.” Her laugh faded a bit. 

“Sorry,” Aphmau whispered while everyone else laughed. 

“It’s fine.” She shrugged “I’m just happy to make you smile.” She winked. 

Aphmau nodded. 

Nicole clapped her hands “I just remembered something!” She had everyone’s attention “Kiki! She definitely needs to know about you guys!” 

Almost everyone gasped “Kiki!?” 

“What is she doing here?” Belladonna asked, “I haven’t heard from her in ages!” 

“She lives here with her daughter Leona, which I’m sure you guys will be excited to see, she isn’t in town at the moment though but she’ll be back in a think two or three days? I’m not exactly sure but, she makes the best cakes ever so it will totally be worth the wait. Dmitri just cannot get enough of them but of course, he has to be good before he gets any, I swear that kid is going through a rebellious phase lately.” 

“I mean he’s cute,” Katelyn added. 

“And you never grew out of yours I see.” Kitten pointed out. 

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” Nicole rolled her eyes “Oh! By the way Belladonna, Scaleswind is totally in to join the Phoenix Alliance.”

Now it was Belladonna's time to choke on _her_ drink “What!?” She asked. 

“Yeah! I mean an alliance sounds perfect considering Scaleswind would be a major powerhouse - I know you’ll run the alliance well and I trust you.” 

“Don’t you need to speak with your council first?” Belladonna asked. 

Nicole shook her head “I have advisors, not a council. I can make these kinds of decisions on my own.” 

“Oh wow, well it’ll be great to have you on our team.” The kharagosa smiled. 

“Thank you! So now that we’ve all caught up I need to go do some Lord stuff and go to a meeting. I’ll leave you guys be to do whatever you want, if Dmitri is a little shit call me and you fuck up my house I’ll kill you.” She picked up the rest of her food and shoved it into her mouth before putting her plate in the sink with everyone laughing. She squinted her eyes at everyone before walking out of the room and closing the door. 

After everyone finished eating, Aphmau said that she wanted to go find a library to see if she could find anything that could help them in this time, Katelyn offered to help and they set off to find a library in this massive house. They got lost for like ten minutes before someone came up to them asking if they were okay and after hearing that they were lost, led them to the library. 

The library was so big Aphmau was confident that they would get lost and never find their way out again. They didn’t really know what exactly they were looking for but anything could help really, how to get rid of a meif’wa curse, how to find out you're a divine being, how to kill a Shadow Lord, anything would help. 

“You know I wasn’t expecting this place to be so big!” Katelyn called out as the pair searched for books. 

“Me neither!” Aphmau yelled back “I don’t even know where to start!” 

“I don’t even know how this place is organized! We really should’ve asked someone!” 

“Where are you right now!” 

“The magicks section! I”m trying to find something about curses so we can get these stupid cat ears off!” 

“Hey! They aren’t stupid!” 

“No one is going to take me seriously!”

“So? You’re basically insulting all Meif’wa by saying that!” Aphmau scolded, trying to find where Katelyn was “And I have a meif’wa friend.” Aphmau had gotten two books which she thought would help them, one was titled “ _Emperor Lords_ ” and “ _Drevniye sekrety_ ” which meant ‘Ancient Secrets’ in Russian. There were books littered all over the ground in disregard of their fragile state. Aphmau picked them up on her way to Katelyn and put them on random desks and tables she found. 

Katelyn was getting more frustrated as time went on, even with Aphmau’s help she still couldn’t find anything that could help them and then she snapped. She punched a spot on the brick wall and it opened like a reverse cabinet making both women freeze. Katelyn slowly extracted her fist from the newly found cubby and turned to Aphmau, inside the cubby was a green box. 

Aphmau slightly shrugged and Katelyn slowly turned back around and took the green box. There was an unlocked latch on the box that Katelyn flipped up and opened the box. Inside the box was a faux leather journal. Katelyn looked up at Aphmau. 

“Should I?” 

“I mean if you want to.” 

Katelyn picked up the journal and put the box down on the floor, she opened the journal and a short gasp escaped her mouth. 

“What? What is it?” 

Katelyn looked up at Aphmau once more “It’s Nicole’s diary, about like her last few months in Phoenix Drop.”

“Oh, we shouldn’t look at that. It’s personal.” 

“I mean yeah but what’s the harm in looking?” 

“Everything. Do you not have any morals?” 

Katelyn shrugged “I lost my morals when I became a Jury of Nine.” She flipped through the pages of the book with Aphmau turning her back towards Katelyn but still listening. “Oh, ‘Dante and I kissed today. He said he wants to be with me. I don’t like blushing but it’s sometimes nice.’ Ooh, so they _were_ a thing!” Katelyn looked up for a seal of approval to keep going. 

Aphmau’s heard was slightly turned toward her “If you keep reading we have to forget this was ever here, okay?” 

“Gotcha!” she flipped a couple pages closer to the end of the book “Okay, ‘I returned to the safehold today, Levin and Malachi are growing up so fast, Aphmau would be proud of them. It’s been about six months since I’ve been here. Since Dante and I… yeah. Anyway, I saw him today, I ran up to him and hugged him. He hugged me back. He complimented me on the dress that I wore. I don’t like to wear dresses really but given the situation, they’re just more comfortable. He looked as handsome as ever, he said I gained weight, jerk. I can’t train, which sucks. I had asked him if he wanted to talk and catch up and he invited me to his house. Kawaii~Chan was there and it was in that manner I found out that they were together now… she is three months pregnant… with his child.’ Holy shit.” 

“Is there more?” 

“Yeah… ‘I didn’t say as long as I intended to. Kawaii~Chan looked so happy with Dante and I could tell he was happy with her. I just told both of them that I was now becoming the Lord of Scales and he didn’t have to worry about me anymore. I didn’t even think he would get with someone else, I mean yes, the breakup was very bad but… he’s already engaged to Kawaii~chan so soon and now I… I shouldn’t have been so stubborn. I guess I’ll have to do this by myself - I was the reason we broke up after all. I still love him, but this is the path I am choosing. Kawaii~Chan is my friend, she deserves to be happy as does Dante - they will have a beautiful family together, I’m sure. It hurts a lot, but I feel this is for the best… not just for myself but for-’ It's smudged out sorry, uh ‘Goodbye Dante and Kawaii~Chan. I’ll always love you two.’ That’s it.” 

The two stood there in silence as Katelyn closed the book and picked up the box to put the journal back in the book. 

“We really shouldn’t have read that,” Aphmau said. 

“Yeah, we really shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” Katelyn relatched the box and put it back in the cubby, and closed the door “I shouldn't have done that.” 

“Don’t be sorry, I didn’t stop you.” Aphmau said, “But we are to never speak of this again right?” 

Katelyn nodded and the two just left the library with no remorse. They didn’t really do anything for the rest of the day but when Nicole asked them what they did while she was gone they awkwardly looked at each other before saying nothing which Nicole was obviously suspicious of but just shrugged it off because it wasn’t her business. 

The following day however was a little more eventful, it started with Aphmau waking up in the middle of the day from Dmitri knocking on her door and telling her that his mom needed her at the gates because someone was there that knew her. Aphmau groggily got up, changed her clothes, and got ready for the day before heading out to the gates of Scaleswind which she vaguely remembered where they were because she was very tired when they entered Scaleswind. 

After walking all the way there and stopping for a quick second to get food she finally arrived at the gates to see Aaron leaning against the wall looking like he was sleeping. Aphmau gasped which woke the man, he scoffed.

“Are you a meif’wa now, what’s all this?” He asked, shaking his head. 

“Why are you here!?” 

“I got a small note from a bird telling me to head to Scaleswind, I went in the direction you guys went in, found a house, saw a portal to hell, went through it, found another portal like a mile south, went through _that_ portal, ended up in the middle of the road and got here.” 

“Dear Irene, did you hit any bumps in the road or something?” 

“I had to fight like one or two shadow things but besides that the ride here was pretty neat.” 

“Ride?” 

Aaron cocked his head to the side to motion for Aphmau to look, she moved over to the side to see Nicole talking to this old man in front of a wagon with a woman sobbing on the side over a child’s body. Everyone there seemed to be a meif’wa which Aphmau thought was interesting. 

“I am incredibly sorry for your loss, you are all welcome here and I’ll make some funeral arrangements for you baby boy. I am so sorry.” Aphmau overheard Nicole say. Aphmau softly gasped and left Aaron to go over to the woman and her child, the pay respects.

The boy looked to be around eight which was even more heartbreaking, he raided a warm temperature which told Aphmau that he had only passed a while ago. She went over to the boy and put her hand on the mother’s back and her other hand next to the boy’s, she remembered that one very fever dreamish time when she saw a dead Hayden but then somehow revived him after she tripped. It was a very strange moment for her. Another strange moment for her would be this moment because as soon as she thought about that Hayden moment her hand jolted out a string of purple light that entered the little boy through his stomach like a worm. Aphmau gasped and jolted her hand back in fear of what she did to the poor boy. The life in the boy’s face and body slowly returned and he awoke into a coughing fit. The woman cried and immediately hugged her baby boy who looked very confused, Aphmau on the other hand thought she was about to pass out from how woozy she was but thankfully a kind refugee held onto her to make sure she didn’t fall. 

Everyone around Aphmau was in shock at what she had done, the refugee was yelling something to hear that she couldn’t hear, the mother of the child was sobbing from what it looked like, and the child was just sitting there in a daze. Aphmau was snatched away by Nicole who looked like a mix of angry and scared. 

“What the fuck was that!?” 

“What?” Aphmau said “I-I-I… I don’t know what’s going on.” 

“Well, you obviously do because you just used your fucking powers or some shit!” 

“I-I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even know what was happening.”

“Well did you have to do a miracle in front of people we don’t even know!?” 

Aphmau was so dazed she didn’t know half of what Nicole was saying “I- … why are you worked up about this?” 

Nicole took a quick breather before turning back to Aphmau “I’m worried about what they are going to think, yes it’s been over a decade since you left but some people still aren’t accepting of the whole magicks thing. They could think that you’re some demon trying to steal their child’s life force or something.” 

“Didn’t she _just_ bring their child back to the living? I seriously don't see the negatives in any of this.” Aaron added.

“HOW!? YOU CAN’T JUST BRING-” She shut herself up to calm herself down once again, she clicked her tongue “Aph, please dear mother of Irene just go in my house while I deal with this. I don’t mean to yell but I’m a little freaked out over the whole necromancer deal you have going on okay?” 

Aphmau nodded tiredly “Yeah okay, could I have some help walking there, I think I’m gonna pass out.” 

“Oh yeah,” Aaron said before taking Aphmau's arm. Nicole made a guard go with the pair to make sure that Aphmau didn’t die or something, Aphmau couldn’t tell if Nicole didn’t care about her or that she was too scared to care about her. Either way, it still hurt Aphmau’s heart a little that she just sent Aphmau off to go back to the house even though she just got there. The walk back to Nicole’s house made Aphmau so much more exhausted than she already was from bringing that child back to life which was weird because she believed that she had pretty good endurance. She was so drained of everything that even walking was difficult for her, Aaron was pretty good at keeping her upright though which was nice. Every time he felt her slipping or about to fall over he jolted her upright again and wrapped his arm around her shoulder only for it to fall and the cycle repeat. 

Once she got back she explained the whole ordeal to Kitten and Katelyn in the living room who, only one of them, was in shock of the thing. Katelyn couldn’t comprehend someone coming back from the dead and Kitten remembered Aphmau telling her, Belladonna, and Zoey of the Hayden incident so she knew of Aphmau’s life powers already. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Katelyn said with her mouth agape. 

“Do you guys know if Irene had like… life giving powers or something? Maybe this is the cause of the relic?” Aphmau asked, playing with her hands in nervousness. 

“Well, remember that one time?” Kitten pointed out “You didn’t have the relic then and that dude was like… gone.” 

“True but… I’ve never been able to do that before besides that one time.” 

“Have you come across any more dead bodies?” 

“ … No…” 

“Exactly.” 

“Wait you’ve done this before!?” Katelyn asked. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Aphmau brushed it aside. 

“How can I just brush it aside? You basically just said that you resurrected a dead body before, that’s insane Aphamu!” 

“Well, I don’t really feel like talking about it right now. I still don’t understand who I am and I don’t want to worry about that.” 

“You’re worrying about it now though?” 

Aphmau hit the table they were sitting at“Can we just drop it? New subject I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

The girls were silent, scared that Aphmau, a sweet kind person, just raised her voice at them. It felt like a mother yelling at them. 

Aphmau sighed “Is Laurance awake?” 

“Not that I know of, and that was twenty minutes ago.” Kitten answered, “I think he’s still a little meh over the whole Shadow Knight thing.” 

“He seemed fine yesterday?” Katelyn pointed out. 

“Yeah, but that was yesterday.” 

“True.” 

Without saying anything Aphmau stood up and left the girls to go check up on Laurance, seeing if he was okay after the whole thing. Katelyn was right though, he did seem fine yesterday but maybe that changed? Aphmau wasn’t exactly aware of Laurance’s mental state so maybe he was just putting on a front yesterday to make everyone think he was okay but now he couldn’t hold that mask on for any longer. She ran her fingers through her hair, she had totally forgotten about her cat ears and was a little spooked when she felt them on her head, for some reason she had also forgotten about her tail even though it was always somehow in front of her face. 

As she walked through the hallways of the giant mansion everything seemed so quiet, distant. It was unnatural the way everything was feeling, it made Aphmau have goosebumps all over her body. She wondered, after all of this, would she go back to Phoenix Drop? She knew that it would be a very long trip but would it really be worth it? She kept on saying that she was going to leave Phoenix Drop for a while and not come back for long periods of time but the first time she said that she came running back, was this just going to be a repeat of last time, or was she actually going to venture out instead of going back into her safe little bubble. She wanted to push herself but what if that wasn’t good for her? What if she was supposed to go back into her little haven, relax, and then go onto her next adventure which would probably only last about an hour with how these other trips were going. 

She rolled her eyes at herself and was about to open Laurance’s door when she was slammed against the wall with something blocking her airway. She gasped and noticed Laurance was the culprit of her lack of air. 

Laurence jumped when he realized it was her and pulled his arm away from Aphmau, immediately going right into a hug and apologizing repeatedly for doing that. 

“It’s fine! It’s fine!” She laughed and slightly pushed him off of her “Don’t worry, I should’ve been paying attention.” 

“No, _I_ should’ve been paying attention and realized it was you.” 

“Okay, let’s just say that we are both sorry and not sorry, ‘kay?” Aphmau compromised. 

Laurance pretended like he was intensely thinking before laughing and agreeing “Yeah that’s okay. Did I sleep in through the entire day?” 

Aphmau shrugged “I mean I think I slept in for most of the morning and then got woken up and now we’re here so I don’t think so?” 

Laurance laughed “That’s good, that’s good.” 

“How are you feeling?” Aphmau asked. 

“Meh.” 

“Is there any way that it can be better?” 

“Hmm…. Kiss me.” 

Aphmau slapped his arm “I hate you.” 

Laurance cackled out a laugh while Aphmau slowly started laughing with him. Sadly their wholesome moment together was quickly ruined by Nicole who told Aphmau that someone wanted to speak with her after the whole resurrecting thing, which Aphmau hadn’t told Laurance about yet, Aphmau agreed to talk to the person. Nicole said that Laurance could go into the dining hall and have whatever he wanted before Aphmau and her said goodbye to the man.

Nicole led Aphmau to _another_ room in Nicole’s giant house to meet with a meif’wa refugee who seemed very young but also mature at the same time. They looked similar to Michi with the purple hair, purple cat ears, and tail, black tiger stripes, it slightly alarmed Aphmau. 

“Nǐ hǎo!” The meif’wa greeted “So you must be the woman who resurrected that dead child?” [hello] 

Aphmau stuttered “I mean… yes?” 

The meif’wa laughed “I mean that’s what you’re known for in my group-”

“I thought I said to those who witnessed the event to not mention anything to anyone?” Nicole asked. 

“I mean you did but you can’t always stop a few words from getting out of people’s mouths. Especially with what happened today.” The meif’wa turned their attention back to Aphmau “And with that extraordinary person being a meif’wa like my group you especially can’t stop talking from happening. Tell me, did you come to Scaleswind to seek refuge here from the tyrannical rule of the king of Havas?” 

“I’m actually not a _real_ meif’wa.” Aphmau then explained her situation and how she got to be a meif’wa in the first place. 

“Um, does that meif’wa you speak of, Michi, have features like mine?” 

“Oh yeah she actually does, it’s actually frighteningly similar.” 

“Oh dear Lune, that must be my twin sister Michi.” They sucked in a breath “I had no idea she was still alive, I was certain she had died from a vicious dog fight but I guess not. I am so sorry for the pain and suffering that she has caused you and I understand how that might change your image of me but I hope you can understand that I am not like my sister in any sort.”

“I can tell you’re a nice person, I don’t think you would do something like that.” Aphmau smiled softly. 

“Thank you, my name is Mikai Hǎowán. I am the leader of a group of rebels and refugees. We come from the region of Tu’La - a region that has been under the rule of a tyrannical King. However, he is a King who used his words to sway people into believing they are not oppressed. He will work with villages promising riches and glory however all he does is use the villages for their resources until they are useless to him.” 

“Oh my Irene, I am so sorry. That sounds absolutely terrible, I’m glad you and your group are safe now.” Aphmau comforted the meif’wa. 

“Thank you, I have heard of an alliance that you are in or lead-in? The Phoenix Alliance.” The man asked. 

“Oh no, I don’t lead it whatsoever. That’s my friend Belladonna Luke who leads it, she is absolutely an amazing leader.” Aphmau corrected “But yes it is called the Phoenix Alliance.” 

“Ah okay, well I guess I will have to ask this Belladonna this question but I think it would be the best for my group if we joined said Phoenix Alliance. I understand that we are not a village but a group of people but will do our best to aid you in your time of need and I feel as if my people really need the help of an alliance right now.” Mikai asked, practically begged. 

“I uh…” Aphmau couldn’t just turn down these helpless people who probably had nothing to their name but like Mikai said, they weren’t a village. Aphmau wasn’t sure what Belladonna’s rules were right now with the whole alliance thing and whether or not single people could join but she would have to ask on that “I put in a good word for you.” 

The meif’wa smiled softly “Thank you, me and my people will try and find a way to get that curse off of you but I don’t know anything about curses so I don’t feel like I’ll be much help in that department. But thank you so much, truly-” 

“LADY NICOLE!” 

Aphmau and Nicole snapped their heads towards an out-of-breath guard who was running in their direction. 

“LADY NICOLE!” The guard repeated, “Those blasted demons are at our gates again and in bigger numbers.” 

Nicole didn’t waste a second to follow the guard out of the mansion at lighting speed. Aphmau yelled to the people in her group to come to the gates because she had a strange suspicion she knew what these ‘blasted demons’ were. The people who were at Aphmau’s side immediately as she ran were Aaron and Laurance while the others came a little later into Aphmau’s run towards the gate.

The people in the city seemed to be in a panic over what was happening at the gate. People were screaming, others were crying, but most of the ones that Aphmau saw were calm while running away. In the distance Aphmau could hear high pitched crying that reminded most of the group of the Shadow Souls that they had encountered when visiting New Meteli. Aphmau had been given a sword by Kitten right before they slid to where Nicole was standing in disbelief at the number of Shadow Souls behind the city’s gates. It didn’t have the same feeling that her last sword did but Aphmau couldn’t be picky right now. 

There were dozens, possibly hundreds of Shadow Souls screaming and crying to possess a body to use. They were straight out of a nightmare with their bright yellow eyes, blood dripping everywhere, the black haze that covered them like a veil, and the fact that they looked to be dripping oil. Aphmau’s stomach twisted when she almost looked one in the eyes. 

Kitten had gotten her claws out and along with Belladonna they were ready to bring out their magicks and start fighting, Katelyn and Aaron already had their designated weapons with his purple sword and her fire gauntlets, and Aphmau had her new sword which had a pretty little peach handkerchief tied to the handle. Laurance was the only one that didn’t have a weapon and he was the one that looked the most scared besides Nicole who looked as if she was in a PTSD-filled flashback. 

“Are you kidding me!?” 

“Why are there so many!?” 

“How often has this been happening!?” Aaron asked. 

“Well obviously enough to make them appear in this big of an army!” Belladonna snapped. 

Aphmau gasped “Mikai! Did you already bring the refugee’s in?” 

“We brought in a few but not all of them, I mean there were like three wagons filled with people!” Nicole yelled. 

“What if I…?” 

“You seriously can’t be thinking of turning.” Kitten said, “Are you kidding me?” 

“I mean it would help wouldn’t it?” 

The guards of Scaleswind were trying their best to shoot down the enemies and get the gate from breaking down from the force of the Shadow Souls. Others were escorting villagers away from the gates but most of them were gone anyway. 

“No, it would not help whatsoever! You’re only going to get yourself killed!” Kitten answered.

“You don’t know that. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Laurance shrugged. 

“If whatever you’re gonna do is going to weaken this group of demons then please do it!” Nicole interrupted the conversation. 

“Laurance don’t,” Kitten advised. 

Laurance looked at Kitten one last time before turning his attention to the gate. He closed his eyes and concentrated on turning into a Shadow Knight, he was taking long-drawn-out breaths through his nose and out his mouth. The group watched in amazement as his body slowly changed, he got taller, he got buffer, red and black Shadow Knight armor slowly formed around his body, and the energy around him and that emitted off of him was just sickening and dark. After he was finally transformed he was breathing heavily and seemed like if he was pushed the wrong way he would kill everyone. He was just imitating a very intimidating aura that seemed to make even Aaron a little uncomfortable. 

Laurance instructed the guards to open the gate and with the extra approval of Nicole, the guards opened the large gate. 

Laurance and Aphmau were the first ones out to the fight, then Katelyn and Aaron, and then Kitten and Belladonna who were mostly the backup defenses. Nicole was also helping and Aphmau was very impressed with her fighting skills with her fist.

Every time Aphmau sliced through a Shadow Soul they screamed and exploded into a cloud of dust, Aphmau’s ears were definitely bleeding by how much screaming and crying there was in such a small area. The sword that Aphmau was using was lightweight and easy to use so her arms didn’t get as tired as they usually would with her old sword but then again she would have to use her old sword _a lot_ for her arms to get tired but still she was a little glad that she wasn’t using such a heavy sword. She hadn’t fought in a very long time so it was nice to use her body in this way again, she remembered being all angelic when she was fighting in the war before the time jump so it was nice to feel like that again even if she wasn’t using her powers. It wasn’t until half of the Shadow Knights were through when everything went south. 

Out of nowhere there was a scream louder than any other scream Aphmau, or anyone in her group, had heard during this battle. Everyone snapped their heads towards the sound, Laurance’s face was held between two ghostly Shadow Souls hands. His helmet seemed to be ripped off his head and was bleeding profusely, his eyes that were usually a dark red were now a bright glowing red. The Shadow Souls hands were seething into the man’s skin like hot metal to snow but Laurance wasn’t even making a noise, he was so hypnotized in the Shadow Soul’s eyes. Everything seemed to freeze. Everyone stood in awe and fear as the Shadow Soul released its hands from the Shadow Knight’s face, Laurance slowly stood up straight and turned around to face Kitten, he took a deep breath before kicking the meif’wa so hard she crashed against the Scaleswind walls. Everyone gasped and immediately went and started attacking the Shadow Knight to detain him. Belladonna and Aaron were the ones to take down Laurance the most but Aarron was the one to deliver the final blow that knocked the man out and caused some serious injuries. The most obvious wound was one wrapped around the man’s left shoulder. 

Aphmau just stood in shock as she watched Laurance bleed out in front of her; it was only when Katelyn snatched her away from a potential Shadow Soul attack when she came back to reality and started helping. Aphmau grabbed the man’s legs, Aaron grabbed the man’s arms, and Belladonna was the one to start patching the man up. Katelyn slid over and threw Kitten over her shoulder as everyone ran back inside the gates to let Nicole and her guards finish the Shadow Souls off. 

They brought Laurance to the nearest hospital since they couldn’t waste time bringing him back to Nicole’s. They set Laurance up in a hospital room and because Kitten wasn’t too injured she just got an ice pack for her back which Katelyn helped her use. Laurance transformed back into the old regular Laurance once they entered the hospital as he meant to, they didn’t explain much to the doctors other than that their friend was hurt because it wouldn’t look too good if the guy that injured him was also standing right next to him. Laurance had burned handprint marks on the sides of his face from the Shadow Soul that didn’t look like they were going away anytime soon, they slightly resembled Aphmau’s burn marks on the right side of her body… slightly. They were darker than Laurance’s normal tan skin and looked like dried melted taffy which was a terrifying thing to imagine. Aphmau, Aaron, and Belladonna were escorted out of the room so the doctors could do their job. 

Aphmau laid on the hospital floor with Kitten who was laying on her stomach while everyone else either stood or sat down in a chair provided to them. 

Aphmau dragged her hands down her face and groaned “What did you do to him?” She asked Aaron. 

He shrugged “I slashed him, enough to draw him back obviously, well… I thought it would be enough to trigger his defense reflexes but he didn’t even move, nor flinched for that matter. Which is concerning.” 

“Well, there’s also the _other_ concerning bit that he just… betrayed all of us for a quick second there.” Katelyn added, “I mean look at poor Kitten.” 

“Oh yeah how are you feeling there?” Belladonna crouched down. 

“My back feels broken.” Kitten groaned. 

Belladonna cringed and just rubbed the ice back on the meif’wa back more. 

“Back on track, Laurance was obviously going to kill all of us if I didn’t do this whether or not you like it. You, especially, were an easy target for him to kill you as he serves as a Lord.” Aaron explained like a parent telling off a child “Laurance was no longer there in that body.” 

“Laurance would never hurt me.” Aphmau didn’t bother to look at the blindfolded man, she kept her eyes on the white ceiling ahead of her. 

“Yeah maybe _your_ Laurance would never hurt you but that wasn’t _your_ Laurance.” Aaron told off “You are allowing your love for him to cloud your already terrible judgment of that man. Are you so selfish to say that you would rather Laurance strike you down than for me to interfere - even if it means killing him?” 

“I never said that!” Aphmau shot up “Also the only way he could get killed is if _you_ killed him.” 

“Aph, I…. ” Belladonna entered into the conversation “That wasn’t Laurance and you know that. Like Aaron said _your_ Laurance was no longer there. If you let Laurance kill you _your_ Laurance would die and the new and approved Shadow Knight Laurance would take his place.” 

“He would probably kill himself knowing he killed you in a blind rage,” Aaron added. 

Aphmau just laid back down “I don’t want him hurt.” 

“Gods you are so fucking stupid,” Aaron muttered and walked away. 

“Aph, you need to think of not yourself but the people around you. I can’t do this job as an alliance leader if you aren’t there to help me even if it’s just standing next to me while I present a speech okay? You have two sons who would probably drop everything they're working on once they find out you’re dead. You have Emmalyn and Kenmur who would probably die knowing that the potential new body of Irene died.” Belladonna explained. 

“I know it’s just…. Why did he have to be so harsh.” 

“From what he said I don’t think he meant to. He probably thought Laurance was going to fight back so he went way harder than he should’ve, I don’t think he purposefully meant to hurt Laurance.” 

“Why does it have to be like this?” 

Belladonna shrugged “Life is cruel in its ways.” 

“Did you know?” Aphmau whispered. 

Belladonna shook her head “I didn’t know this was going to happen.” She whispered back.

Aphmau turned her head towards Kitten “Did you know?” 

Kitten flipped her head towards Aphmau “Possibly.” 

“I hate you.” 

“I know.” 

A doctor came out of Laurance’s room after around twenty minutes of radio silence. The group had split off with Katelyn, Kitten, and Aphmau staying behind and Aaron and Belladonna leaving the building to go help Nicole who entered the hospital right before the doctor came out of the room. The doctors said that Laurance had woken up and requested the appearance of an ‘Aphmau’ to his room, Aphmau stood up and the doctor invited her inside. 

Inside the hospital room Laurance laid in a bed with stitches all over his arms and a massive gauze over his left shoulder, he had what the doctor’s called an ‘IV bag’ attached from a tube coming out of the middle of his left arm and was wearing new clothes that the doctors called a ‘hospital gown’. When he spotted Aphmau he softly smiled and tried to sit up but fell back down into the bed. 

Aphmau went over and sat in a chair next to the bed, holding Laurance’s hand as the doctor that invited Aphmau in, left the room. 

“Do you remember anything that happened?” She asked. 

“Not really, everything’s a little foggy.” 

“Oh okay, well do you remember the Shadow Souls?” 

He nodded “I remember everything before I guess I turned into a Shadow Knight.”

Aphmau explained from after Laurance turned, and up to where they were now. Laurance’s face was emotionless while he listened. 

“So… Kitten and everyone that I hurt are okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah, you didn’t really hurt anyone majorly besides Kitten though. Belladonna and Aaron might be a bit bruised but I wouldn’t know.” 

“But they're okay?” 

“Yeah, they’re fine.” 

“So is that terrible pain in my shoulder from Aaron or Belladonna?” He laughed.

Aphmau laughed as well “I’m pretty sure it was Aaron, does it feel bad _bad_?” 

He nodded. Aphmau wanted to believe that she still had her pre-Irene relic powers so she softly placed her hand on Laurance’s shoulder and concentrated on calming him down, numbing the pain, possibly taking the pain away from him. 

“Is this like something from your Irene powers?” 

Aphmau shook her head “I’ve had this power for a while now. It’s been a secret thing to me and three other people.” 

“Like how long?” 

“A little while after you turned into a Shadow Knight I’m pretty sure. I had woken up with these marks all on me.” She motioned her head towards her marks “And I’ve just had powers like making people sleep and calm down and feel their emotions and stuff like that since then.” She pulled her hand away from the man’s shoulder and his eyes were dilated now and looked tired. 

He went quiet “So I guess I was being a little cocky with my transformation huh? I shouldn’t have allowed myself to feel that confident in myself.” Laurance averted eye contact. 

“I mean feeling confident is a good thing right?” 

“Yeah but I got cocky and probably almost got everyone killed. By turning into a Shadow Knight I was fueling my own anger and a Shadow Knight’s anger can fuel Shadow Souls which led to one of them kinda taking over my body and then I guess I betrayed you guys.”

“Well then don’t turn into a Shadow Knight, voluntarily then?” Aphmau didn’t know how to respond to him “I’m just saying last time from what I know _you_ didn’t mean to turn into a Shadow Knight but your anger did make you turn but this time _you_ turned not your anger.”

“Yeah, that would be a smart thing to do.” He huffed out a laugh. 

“I know that I can’t be the savior of everyone and this might sound selfish, but I don’t want to be the savior of everyone but I want you to be safe. I want to be there for you and make sure you’re okay, I don’t want to be the one to save you from these moments and I’m glad I’m not but I do want you to get better at controlling your emotions whether that be therapy or-” Aphmau was cut off by Laurance’s soft lips touching her forehead and then pulling away seconds later. 

“You were getting panicky.” 

“You didn’t have to kiss me though.” Her face was getting hot. 

“I know, I kinda just wanted to.” He carefully put a piece of hair in Aphmau’s face behind her hair “Don’t worry about me, I know you want to but I don’t want you to worry for me okay? I’m gonna be fine even if I don’t say anything just know that I’m gonna be fine.” 

“Promise?” She held out her pinky. 

He hung his head and laughed before interlocking his pinky with her’s “Promise.” They both dropped their hands but Laurance also dropped down in the bed once again.

“ ‘Kay, I don’t want you to push yourself so I’m gonna leave you so you can rest.” 

He nodded “Go, go, I don’t want to keep your obviously more important matters waiting.” 

She rolled her eyes as she stood up “You’re stupid.” 

“You’re short.” 

“Below the belt.” She gasped. 

“You’re below me!” He laughed and flipped her off. 

She gagged at him and walked out of the room to meet face to face with the hijabi Nicole. She gasped and backed up against the door in fear, hitting her head. 

“MOTHER OF IRENE NICOLE!” She yelled, “YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO SOMEONE!” 

Nicole laughed and backed away, Kitten and Katelyn were still on the floor of the hospital. Even though it had been fifteen long years Nicole still wore her bright red hijab and for some reason that made Aphmau feel really nice inside. Aphmau had assumed that the Shadow Souls had been taken care of so she didn’t feel the need to ask. 

“Hey just so you know, don’t hold back from anything okay? Don’t make excuses to not do something and don’t wait, because one day you’re gonna find out that the one you made wait moved on and you’re going to question every day why’d you make them wait.” 

“What are you…?” 

“The way he looks at you and touches you. He’s obviously in love with you.” She pointed at the door behind Aphmau.

Aphmau looked back into the glass window in the door, Laurance was sleeping peacefully. She turned back “I knew that already, I just have a lot on my plate right now.” 

“Understandable!” Nicole smiled brightly and quickly wiped her eyes which Aphmau didn’t even notice as teary “Now, somehow, under weird circumstances, we have found nothing on whatever is going on with your meif’wa curse.” 

“What!? How? Scaleswind is so big, how is there _nothing_ on what’s up with us?” 

Nicole shrugged “From what we’ve found there’s nothing, I mean we’ve collected some books obviously that seem close to what you have but it’s always off by like one thing.” 

Aphmau groaned and dragged her hands down her face “What about Irene stuff and Hell stuff, things about the Shadow Lord, do you have anything about that?” 

“Oh yeah, we have a whole stack of books for you when you guys are ready to leave.” 

“That’s good, also I don’t want to push anything but we may need a boat because Kitten and Belladonna never said where they last put the boat,” Aphmau asked awkwardly.

“That’s fine! I’ll send a few sailors out with you so if you do find your boat you can take that one and the sailors can take that ship back to us!” Nicole clapped her hands “But before that whole ordeal I need to show you something!” Nicole snatched Aphmau’s hand and dragged her out of the hospital, not letting her have time to say goodbye to Kitten or Katelyn. 

Aphmau was thrown outside of the building by Nicole and then almost brought down by someone hugging her and screaming their head off. Aphmau had to balance herself to make sure she didn’t fall but she knew that her ears were most definitely bleeding from how high-pitched the screaming was, they were jumping up and down as well so everything was like she was on a different planet from how fast things were going. The person pulled back and Aphmau finally got a good look at the person who had attacked her. 

“Kiki!?” Aphmau gasped. 

The woman squealed and jumped up and down in a circle, she was so energetic and radiated such happy energy that the world seemed brighter where she stood. Her red hair was in a long french braid with a bow at the end, she was wearing an adorable long peachy dress with a white button-up shirt underneath. She had forgotten how even though Brenden was black, his and Kiki’s Asian features matched up perfectly making them look almost identical. 

The woman was crying “Me and Leona got back from our trip a little while ago and Nicole said that you were here and I saw you and I just- AHHHHHH!!” She squealed once more in happiness. 

Aphmau hugged the woman once again to make sure that she wasn’t having a fever dream of some sort and this was actually happening “I’ve missed you so much!! How are you doing?” 

“Oh, I’ve been doing great! Nicole kinda gave me a summary of why you went missing for those fifteen years so I’m not gonna bother you with asking that question!” She laughed ‘Ki-ki-ki’, it almost transported Aphmau back all the way to when she met the woman and had told her that was her nickname because of her ‘ki-ki-ki’ laugh. “I still can’t believe you look the same, like the same.” 

Aphmau laughed “Yeah, magick is a funny thing.” She could feel tears start to come out of her eyes. 

KIki gasped and clapped her hands “Speaking of aging, I want you to meet someone!” She squealed “Leona! Qua đây một chút được không?” she said while turning her head to Aphmau to face a little girl far in the back next to a store. [Can you come over here for a bit?]

A girl with long black hair in a ponytail, pale-pinkish skin, and grey bird wings twice the size of the little girl’s body turned her head towards the woman “Gì?! Tôi đang làm gì đó!” [What?! I'm doing something!]

“Qua đây!” Kiki snapped. [Come here!]

The girl rolled her eyes and looked like she was about to roll into a ball before proceeding to turn into a small little blackbird and flew over to Aphmau and Kiki. Once she got to her destination she rolled forward once more and turned back into the long black-haired girl. Aphmau stood in shock at the whole presentation. 

“What was that?” Aphmau stammered, struggling to get even a word out of her mouth.

Kiki giggled “This is Leona Nguyen, she is a Người Avian, also known as an Avian human. She basically part bird part human and can turn whatever body part she wants into a bird but she’s still working on doing separate body parts right now.” 

“Wait so… this is Leona, like the Leona born from a pendant Leona?” Aphmau asked with a slight smile. 

Kiki nodded “She’s my little girl!” Kiki turned to Leona “You probably don’t remember Aphmau but she used to be mommy’s friend when you were a baby!” 

Leona held her hand out “It’s so nice to meet you! Kiki talks to the sun and moon of you!” She was smiling gleefully, she had a cleft lip that made them part of her lip under her left nostril point upwards unnaturally. 

“Oh well, you are so pretty.” She reminded Aphmau so much of Zane it was insane, disgusting almost. She really wanted to punch this girl’s face because of how she looked which was _terrible_. “I’m so glad I get to meet an older Leona!” 

Leona laughed, she had her mother’s laugh “You are very pretty as well! I love your hair!” 

“Aw, thank you.” 

“I hate to cut introductions short, I really do, but Leona could you go to the carriage and make sure that the animals make it to the barn safely? I’ll come to join you after I’m done talking to Aphmau okay?” 

“Yeah, that’s cool!” Leona smiled. 

“Oh and don’t squawk at the animals, last time you did that you scared the chicken half to death.” 

“Pfft, I’ll try my hardest not to.” She laughed as she skipped away. 

“Leona!” Kiki yelled but her efforts were useless “Dear Menphia that girl is something else.” She huffed out a laugh. 

Aphmau laughed as well “I’m still in shock over her being an… what’s it called?”

“Người Avian”

“Người Avian?” Aphmau pronounced it slightly wrong. 

“Close enough.” Kiki giggled. 

“I didn’t even know those existed. I’ve only known of meif’wa, werewolves, and kharagosas.” 

“Oh yeah I didn’t know what was up with her either. She started ‘transforming’ when she was really young and I took her to the doctor to see if something was wrong. Turns out the reason why people don’t know about Người Avian is that they are _super_ rare, You’ll only find them in designated spots for them and usually, there are very few because of their rarity people want to ya know… ” she made a slicing motion across her throat. 

“Oh no, but she’s safe being in such a crowded area?” Aphmau asked, “Aren’t you afraid that someone might catch her or something?” 

“Of course, I’m always afraid of that but I can’t let that hold back my baby girl from having what’s considered a ‘normal’ childhood. I mean There’s always a potential chance that _you_ might get kidnapped but that doesn’t stop you from coming out to Scaleswind does it?” 

Aphmau shook her head “I guess you’re right. Wow, you must be like the luckiest person in the world.” She laughed “I mean not only do you have a daughter born from a super old relic pendant thing but she’s also a Người Avian, I mean that’s like insane.” 

“I know right! It’s just so crazy everytime I think about it and I thank the gods all the time for her. Gods I just love her so much!” She giggled. 

Aphmau’s heart melted “Now, I know you might not want to answer this but have you found out who the father is yet? I mean with the whole female blood male blood thing what do you think?” 

Kiki’s mood turned a little sad, she shrugged “I don’t know truthfully, I know you’re probably gonna yell at me but I hope that the father’s Zane. I know you think he’s a bad person-” 

“Kiki, he _is_ a bad person.” 

She acted like Aphmau had never said anything “I know you think he’s a bad person but I really do hope that he’s Leona’s father, but I know that I’ll never truly know.” 

“I don’t understand how you can’t see that he’s a bad person. I mean he could literally murder someone in front of you and you would still think that he’s done nothing wrong.” 

Kiki shrugged “I know my Zane, he’s not a bad guy.” 

Aphmau wanted to scream at Kiki so loud and tell her that ‘her’ Zane was currently fighting his brother in the Irene dimension after trying to consume a relic and possibly be a god. She took a deep breath and decided against that though “I’m not arguing with this because I know we’ll get nowhere so… I’m happy to see you Kiki.” 

The woman smiled “I’m happy to see you as well.” She turned her head to find something before turning back to Aphmau “Now I would love to stay and talk more but I have animals to attend to. I’ll come by Nicole’s later tonight and we can have the best dinner you’ve ever had.” 

“Oh bet, I’ll see if your famous cakes live up to their reputation.” 

Kiki giggled “Oh they’ll live up to their reputation all right. Love you Aphmau Tạm biệt!” She waved goodbye and ran off, saying goodbye to Nicole as well. [Goodbye!]

Aphmau waved goodbye to the woman and stayed in her spot until she could only see Kiki as a tiny spec in the large city that was Scaleswind. Nicole came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

Aphmau turned her head to look at the woman before turning her head to look back at where Kiki was “I hope she’s doing good.”

“Oh, she’s great.” Nicole smiled “Great kisser.” 

“What!?” 

Nicole burst out laughing, she held her stomach in pain as she almost fell over from how hard she was laughing. Aphmau slapped the woman’s arm and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in annoyance. 

“I hate you so much.” Aphmau pouted. 

Nicole snorted “I know.” 

Aphmau rolled her as when Nicole began composing herself. She wiped her eyes dry of tears and stood up straight while laughing softly still. She turned to Aphmau once she was finally calmed down and not dying from laughter. 

“So, what are your plans now that most of the stuff that you came over here for is accomplished? I mean you got Irene books and got us on your alliance, I’m pretty sure you set out for nothing more.” 

Aphmau nodded “I don’t know what I want to do exactly, I’m thinking of going back to Phoenix Drop but I’m not sure I should.” 

“Hey, if you decided to leave just know that there’s a lovely ship waiting for you to go to Phoenix Drop, okay?” Nicole rubbed the woman’s shoulder. 

Aphmau nodded “Okay, I don’t want to keep you guys waiting so I’ll probably think about it later tonight or early tomorrow” 

“Don’t sweat it, girl! Also please dear god, do not tell my son about going to Phoenix Drop.” Nicole laughed and rubbed her hands together. 

“Why not?” 

“Just… just don’t.” 

Aphmau snapped her fingers “Gotcha!”

Sadly Dmitri did end up finding out because when Aphmau was talking about it to Belladonna and Kitten Dmitri overheard and brought it up over dinner resulting in a chase between Nicole and Dmitri. 

Nothing else happened that night besides dinner with Kiki and Leona, she got a few side glances from Nicole when she was talking to Laurance but she brushed them aside and everything was good. She hoped to see Garroth that night but she was still unsure of what these trips meant, where they truly random, or was so subconsciously controlling her visits so she could see Garroth when she was having a tough time. She didn’t think she was having a tough time right now, maybe with her self-consciousness of going back to Phoenix Drop, her relationship with Laurance, her powers, the whole werewolf situation… maybe she was going through a tough time. It was really hard for her to sleep that night, ever since the wedding her sleeping schedule had been all messed up, the nightmares and flashbacks to that night made Aphmau’s skin crawl. There was so much blood, so many body parts, organs, bones, just… Laurance he… he was so terrifying and in that moment Aphmau generally thought that she was going to die. Sometimes she had dreams where she was in the King’s position and she was the one dying, the one getting her head split open, the one who fell down the balcony onto the cold grass under the night sky. She genuinely wishes sometimes that she didn’t kiss Laurance, that in reality only made things so much worse for her… it was really a spur of the moment type thing, she just wanted him to not kill himself and the only thing she could think of was reassuring him that she loved him but… was that really the right thing to do? Maybe it was the hysteria of the moment, maybe that’s why she kissed him… the hysteria. 

She struggled to be near or to talk to Laurance after the wedding, yeah she did joke with him but she still didn’t feel entirely safe with him… was that wrong? Did it felt wrong? It felt mean, rude like she was discriminating against him just because he was a Shadow Knight. Why did it feel wrong for her to feel this way? 

While she was brushing her teeth the next morning she had made up her mind, it pained her and made her feel unreliable but she decided that they were going back to Phoenix Drop. She backed her decision up with that their main reason for heading to Scaleswind was to find information on Irene and the Shadow Lord, they got that, also Aphmau seriously did not want to be a meifwa forever and if Scaleswind, the biggest village ever, didn’t have anything that could help them then there might be a very small chance that Phoenix Drop had something to help them. And Nicole did say that they found some books relating to their curse but nothing exactly so maybe someone at Phoenix Drop could help with that. They also got new people in their alliance with Scaleswind being one and the Mikai’s group being the other, Belladonna did accept Mikai’s group into the alliance which Aphmau was very happy to hear about after she told the kharagosa about them to ‘put in a good word’. She told Nicole about her plan to leave and Nicole answered that she'll have everything ready in a few hours, Aphmau then told everyone else about it and then hung out with Kiki for the rest of the day. 

Kiki stood in front of a door leading to her backyard “Are you ready to see them?” 

Aphmau’s heart was beating faster with anxiety “What if they don’t like me?” 

“Of course they’re gonna like you!” Kiki whined, “I mean they’re parents liked you why wouldn’t they?” 

Aphmau bit her lip but clapped her hands to hype herself and up “Okay whatever, let’s do this!” 

Kiki squealed “That’s my girl!” Kiki opened the glass door and Aphmau walked out, her heart was overwhelmed by the amount of cuteness there was in a single backyard. There were about a dozen puppies, all different breeds that barely resemble Aphmau’s old dogs. There were beagle mixes, St. Bernard mixes, dalmatian mixes, and corgi mixes. Aphmau sat down in the grass and let the puppies come to her, Kiki followed in suit. They played around in the puppies for a bit before Kiki explained all the dog mixes. 

Kiki as a St. Bernard mix and a dalmatian mix on her while she laid down in the grass “Let me give you the rundown by the way since there are so many.” She took a quick breath “The Dalmatians are descendants of Jiggy’s, the Begals are Phoenix and the St. Bernards are Puma’s, and the Corgis are Thorgi’s!” 

Aphmau gasped “No way! That's so convenient!” Aphmau laughed.

“I know right! I didn’t even plan it for it to be that way but Thorgi just ended up liking a stray corgi and it was a match made in heaven.” She giggled. 

“Yeah, no shit! I still find it really funny that Thorgi isn’t even a corgi but a domestic wolf just named Thorgi.” She raked her hands through her hair “Gods that’s funny how he ended up with a corgi.” 

Kiki giggled but her mood quickly dropped and sat up, moving the puppies off of her “Uh… speaking of Thorgi I feel like you should see him.” 

Aphmau’s eyes snapped wide “He’s alive!? How?” 

Kiki shrugged as Aphmau sat up and took the puppies off of her “He’s just been pulling through. Do you _want_ to go see him?” 

“Of course I want to go see him!” Aphmau answered and shot up, pulling Kiki up and motioning her to walk forward so she could follow her to wherever Thorgi was. Kiki explained that he has changed a bit since Aphmau left and that he was very fragile so Aphmau had to be careful with him.

Aphmau followed Kiki up the stairs of her house, walking down the second floor before walking up to another staircase into what Aphmau assumed was an attic. There, in the right corner of the attic, was an old gray and white wolf with a purple collar. Aphmau almost broke down when she spotted him, he looked so fragile like he was glass and if Aphmau handled him wrong he would crack into a million pieces. She lowered herself as she got closer to the wolf, she crawled over the dog and moved his head onto her lap as she pressed her back against the wall. Kiki stood there with a soft smile and glossy eyes. Thorgi had a soft smile on his face, his eyes were bright and happy and even though he looked so depressing his eyes seemed so happy to see Aphmau. Aphmau whispered loving words to Thorgi as tears started coming down her cheeks. 

“Do you want me to leave?” Kiki asked. 

Aphmau ignored Kiki as she continued petting her dog, his life was being held on by a thread and Aphmau knew that he would be leaving this mortal plane very soon. She knew the best thing to do, as she raked her hands softly through Thorig’s fur she concentrated on making him really calm… very calm. His heartbeat was slowing down under Aphmau’s hand, even though she knew this was the best option for him it didn’t stop the tears or her heartbreaking even more. Once the light in his eyes began to leave Aphmau to let her hands stop and leaned down to hug the dog carefully, his heart slowed down to a stop as his fur got soaked in tears. Kiki watched the scene unfold and was crying with Aphmau, when Aphmau looked up at Kiki the redhead went over to the woman and hugged her tightly for comfort. 

Once Aphmau’s sobbing had calmed down a bit she slowly moved Thorig’s head off her lap with the help of Kiki, Kiki wrapped the dog in the blanket that it was already in and escorted Aphmau out of the attic and into the second floor. Without the help of Aphmau, Kiki brought Thorig’s body down from the attic and with Aphmau following behind her she brought the body down to her backyard. She continued walking with the dead body until she reached the edge of the woods behind Kiki’s house where a row of gravestones laid. They were the rest of Aphmau’s dogs, Cookie, Phoenix, Jiggy, Puma, … and now Thorgi. Kiki laid the covered body down next to Puma’s grave and turned to Aphmau to tell her that she could pay her respects and that she would get the gravestone ready as soon as she could. 

The woman went over to the grave, she took a deep breath before paying her respects to the dead body. She turned around before she started crying again and the two of them walked back into Kiki’s house. Aphmau sat at Kiki’s living room couch while she went and got tea, Kitten stopped by to tell Aphmau that Nicole got everything ready and they were leaving in an hour before quickly leaving. Kiki came back with a tray of tea and made Aphmau a cup for her to drink her worries away. 

“I didn’t think he was going to pass in your arms. I’m so sorry.” Kiki apologized.

“Don’t be, I… it’s fine.” Aphmau didn’t want to say _she_ was the reason he passed “I’m glad I saw him.” 

Kiki nodded before something caught her eye and a small smile came to her lips. She stood up from the table and moved a few feet forward before coming back with an almost adult Corgi Wolf mix in her hands “I don’t know if this will cheer you up but, this is Dua. She’s the oldest out of her little and was a major daddy’s girl to Thorgi. You can keep her if you like.” Kiki offered her to Aphmau. 

Aphmau put her teacup down and put her arms out to hold Dua, she was so soft and sweet to Aphmau. Her eyes were full of love and the way she snuggled up to Aphmau made the woman’s heart melt. 

“It looks like she likes you.” 

Aphmau laughed and started petting the dog “You’re allowing me to keep her?” 

Kiki nodded. 

Aphmau looked down at the dog then back up at Kiki, she hoped that if she did keep Dua that she would get along with Amada. Aphmau shrugged “Sure why not.” She smiled. 

Kiki clapped her hands in cheeriness “She likes you! It looks like the circle of life goes on!” She sighed softly “I’m glad you’re alive, for a really long time I was almost positive you had died.” 

Aphmau nodded “I would’ve assumed that…. Why did you move to Scaleswind? I remember the old Lord of Scaleswind saying that my villagers could move there while they repaired the village… is that what you did?” 

Kiki shook her head “Things just started to feel like they were crumbling around me. I wanted Leona to be safe, even more so after I found out she was a Người Avian! After Leona’s second birthday I decided to go take up Lord Borya’s offer to live here. Lucinda said it would be a better place for me to raise her as well. I’m sorry, I hope you don’t think I abandoned everyone… I just needed to do what I felt was best for Leona and my animals.” 

“I don’t think that you abandoned anyone, you’re fine. I think a lot of people would’ve done the same thing if they were in your position. But I do want to ask about Lucinda, what’s up with her?” 

Kiki shrugged as she took a sip of her tea “She came to visit me a few years ago to see how Leona and I were doing but I haven’t seen her since then…. Nor has Nicole for that matter… I’m really worried about her but then again she has always been able to take care of herself. I’ve gone a few years without seeing her and then she suddenly pops up out of the blue! She’s an odd one, but she’s such a wonderful person.” 

“She really was, I miss her a lot.” Aphmau looked up at the clock in Kiki’s house “Hey do you have a leash for Dua? I think I should get going to the docks, which I need directions to, because Kitten came in earlier and said that we were going to be leaving.” 

“Oh yeah of course!” Kiki downed the rest of her tea before getting up and running to go get Aphmau a white leash and collar. Aphmau let Dua off of her lap and stood up, downing the rest of her tea to go meet Kiki in the middle with the leash and collar. 

After getting her the leash and collar Kiki went and called over for her daughter to go show Aphmau where the docks were since she had some business to attend to and couldn’t go show Aphmau herself. Aphmau put the collar around Dua’s neck and attached the leash to it before hugging Kiki goodbye and thanking her for such a good time, Kiki gave her a goodbye muffin and sent the pair off. Leona walked by Aphmau’s side as she directed her towards the docks through the large city of Scaleswind, while walking through Scaleswind Leona dropped some heavy news on Aphmau. 

“Hey, not to scare you or anything but… you and your friends are kinda… wanted?” 

Aphmau choked on her own spit “Excuse me? What!?” She stammered. 

“Yeah uh… a lot of creatures of talking about how the Southern Eastern Wolf tribe’s king was murder and his son, a Prince named Fenrir, has become the new King and he’s… he’s _very_ angry. He’s looking for people that look a _lot_ like you and your friends.” 

“But how? Fenrir was totally on my side the entire time, I mean he even agreed that his father was a major jackwagon!” Aphmau groaned in frustration. 

Leona held back a soft laugh about the insult of Fenrir “Yeah, I mean I guess you guys did in a sense totally murder his dad in the most horrific way possible so I can see why he would be mad. Uh, but also werewolves have always had tempers that they can’t always control so that might be another reason he totally wants your guys’ heads.” Leona dug for something in her pocket, taking out a small burlap pouch “I wanted to give this to you earlier but I didn’t know where to bring this whole situation up but this is Chili powder, wolfs and animals like that absolutely _hate_ anything chili related because it fucks with their senses and stuff. Just carry those around you and you should be fine.” 

Leona handed Aphmau the pouch for Aphmau to stuff in her pocket since her bag was with her friends. “Thank you, Leona, that’s very kind of you. Hopefully, I don’t come in contact with any pirate werewolves but if I do, I’ll have this.” 

The Người Avian laughed “Eh, you never know. Ru’aun is a very strange place, but if you ever come back to Scaleswind I bet the search for you and your friend will _not_ be off so while you're in Scaleswind I suggest keeping that on your person at all times.” 

“Will do, and do I just open the bag and they smell and like… die?” 

Leona laughed once more, she was a very laughable girl “Yeah kinda, just open the pouch and they’ll like totally back away from you giving you time to either fight them off or run.”

Aphmau nodded and they presumed normal conversation as they made their way towards the docks. Aphmau hoped that during their possibly two-week-long trip she could see Garroth, she missed him and hoped he was doing all right. The fact that Garroth even thought of siding with Zane still itched her brain in a way she couldn’t understand, she wanted to ask him about it but she worried it would bring up some bad memories… she wondered how in love someone would have to be for when their heart is broken they completely betray the person they loved. She knew Garroth regretted it deeply and understood that even if she did fall in love with another person that doesn’t he should go on a rampage but she still wanted him to apologize and _actually_ genuinely apologize with no excuses no reasoning… just wanted him to say sorry. Sorry for completely fucking them over, and she knew that the sole reason for betraying Aphmau wasn’t because she had broken his heart… she _hoped_ that wasn’t the sole reason. 

She was so lost in thought she didn’t even realize that Leona had guided Aphmau all the way to the docks where she could see all her friends in the distance on a boat with Nicole talking to them from the docks. Aphmau thanked Leona for the amazing trip and waved goodbye as the girl transformed into a blackbird and flew away. Aphmau stood in awe for a second but shook it off quickly and went to go meet with her friends. 

Laurance was nowhere to be seen but Nicole promised that he was on the ship, Belladonna and Kitten were messing around and fighting each other, and Aaron was complaining to Katelyn how his trip over here was practically useless and all he did was fuck Laurance up, they were also playing with Amada. 

“You know you’re always welcomed back here, I’d love for things to be as they once were again but my duty remains here with my people. I am their Lord after all.” Nicole said as Aphmau guided Dua into the ship. 

“I get it, I don’t care.” Aphmau brushed it off “You’re fine okay, I’m just glad I got to see you.” 

Nicole smiled sincerely “I’ll come to visit you whenever I can… outside of Phoenix Drop. Oh! Maybe I can get in touch with Cadenza and we can meet in New Meteli for a big sleepover or something!” She laughed “Menphia knows that girl is head over heels with sleepovers.” 

“That’d be nice! I haven’t seen Cadenza in a while and how we left off wasn’t exactly as… formal as I wanted it to be.” 

Nicole snapped her fingers “I’ll have it arranged then, once I find out when we can do it I’ll send you a message.” She clapped her hands “Now I’ve loaded up the boat with all the supplies you’ll need and all the crew you’ll need so you guys can survive a possible two week trip. I also put a few things in a basket that I think you’ll like.” 

“Awww, thank you, Nicole. If you went overboard with anything I’m coming back here and killing you.” Aphmau threatened. 

Nicole barked out a laugh and adjusted her red hijab “I didn’t… I hope I didn’t.” She cringed “But anyways, safe travels to everyone in your group and tell Laurance thank you for the gift from the guard in Phoenix Drop even though I _do not_ need it.” 

Aphmau raised her eyebrow in confusion but Nicole just held her hand up. 

“Don’t ask.” 

“Gotcha.”   


“Now leave, leave! I’m sure you have a long trip ahead of you.” 

“Please don’t jinx us,” Aphmau whined as she got on the ship and waved goodbye to Nicole. Once she got on the ship everyone yelled and waved goodbye to Nicole and the city of Scaleswind before the captain of the ship sailed off for Phoenix Drop. They were hoping to find their other ship somewhere near that crazy cat island but if they didn’t they would’ve just lost a boat because everyone was pretty sure they weren’t going to be able to keep this one. 

Luckily it wasn’t a two-week-long trip but it was a week-long trip and _a half_ which was actually _worse_. Laurance and her didn’t talk much for the trip and she didn’t sleep a lot during the trip for multiple reasons, the nightmares, the ship rocking, the sounds of the waves hitting against the boat making her slightly paranoid of everything, and the fact that she was sleeping right next to Laurance and it was making her again, slightly paranoid. When digging through the things that Nicole had given them Aphmau had found the basket Nicole was talking about, inside was a very cold and small box that had chocolate strawberries in it and a note that read: “For you and Laurance to enjoy.” She didn’t eat the chocolate strawberries with Laurance but she did eat them by herself. As she ate the strawberries she kept seeing flashes of the wedding night, of Laurance, it was just a loop at this point that was forever stuck in her head with slightly different variations. Sometimes she was in the King’s position, others she was in Laurance’s position, but most of the time it was just a repeat of that night. She never said anything but sometimes she would look in a mirror or look down at herself and just see blood splatters all over her body from that night. She cursed at herself when she remembered the kiss, she justified it by saying she wanted to show him she couldn’t risk him dying… she didn’t want him to die, but the kiss wasn’t appropriate at all. Maybe if she got a redo of that night she would’ve just hugged him because she didn’t want him to feel bad about killing the King but she also didn’t want to make that moment very… romantic. Was it romantic? Maybe in a weird point of view, it was romantic but at face value when Aphmau looked at it… the kiss was terrible. She had nightmares of kissing Laurance and then stabbing her in the stomach… but she did enjoy that kiss a little, which was a terrible thing to think seeing as he had just killed people but it did make her feel a bit happy.

When Laurance was around her she didn’t flinch or whatever, She just turned her head or turned her focus on something else but deep down she was screaming for him to just… leave. She felt bad for feeling this way towards Laurance, she just felt bad in general. Laurance was her friend, her ‘crush’ and she’s so afraid of him, and it didn’t help that she was mad at herself for practically giving Laurance a second chance and telling him 'it was all okay’ after he _murdered_ someone. Yes, that person was ‘bad’ and ‘cruel’ but… he also killed others, and… he didn’t have to be so gruesome with the kill. Was she justified in anything she was thinking right now? Was this an okay way to think? If she was being completely honest with herself she just wanted to forget everything in her life and disappear… which when she thought about it… seemed pretty depressing. As she thought about it more she was pretty confident that she had PTSD and she wouldn’t blame Laurance if he had it as well as he was the one doing all the killing and the one who almost killed themselves so maybe he was feeling the same way as her… maybe she could talk to him about all of this but maybe that wasn’t for the best. She didn’t talk about her assumed PTSD to anyone else because she didn’t want to bother anyone with her rambling and feelings she wasn’t even sure she totally felt. 

While on the trip they found out that some of their food kept going missing which led Kitten to assume that there was a rat problem, which deeply offended the captain of the ship. Weirdly, everywhere that Kitten looked and checked there were no rats or animals to be found besides Amada and Dua. Belladonna mentioned to Aphmau that she knew why all their food was missing but refused to tell for ‘timeline reasons’. Aphmau just brushed her off and ate the food that they had, luckily no dog food was stolen because Aphmau had two semi-big dogs that did indeed need to be fed. Besides Aphmau intrusive thoughts and PTSD flashbacks and the fact that some of their food was going missing, the trip was going fine. No one got into fights and the fights that they did get into were only teases or training, the only person that didn’t really seem fine was Laurance who started becoming very distant to everyone, even when Aaron tried to get close to him and offer him training he simply brushed the guy off and stayed in his room. Aphmau did take up Aaron’s training offer because she hadn’t trained and while… she got completely embarrassed. Practically everyone was laughing at her as she writhed on the floor in pain with Aaron’s sword at her head, ever since then she started training every day with him. He was very surprised that she had fought in a war and won which deeply offended her and she jokingly didn’t talk to the man for a day. 

She grew very close with the people she had time jumped with, of course sadly Emmalyn and Kenmur weren’t there but that didn’t stop Aphmau from growing close with people like Aaron, Katelyn, and relearning things about Belladonna and Kitten. She got a little happier knowing that these were the people she was going to be traveling the world with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOO EVERYONE!!!! DOO DO DOOO DO DOOO DO DOO DO!  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and THANK YOU *SO* MUCH FOR READING TILL THE END!! It just means the world to me!!  
> Also with the whole Dreamnap thing, I think I might just post it to this account when I'm done w/ the two fics I'm writing but I think that might be it for me in the dreamnap factor unless other things happen and I have another Dreamnap idea to write BUT if you guys are really uncomfortable w/ that being on my page just tell me and I won't upload it!! Oh also, Grammarly doesn't like other languages besides English and while grammar checking I accidentallygrammar checked' a other language into something that I don't think was the language I was writing in. And SADLY!! I can't remember where it was or what the language was, if you see any mistakes in the foregin languages please tell me where and what I mess up and I'll fix it!!  
> LOVE YOU GUYS!! HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY/EVENING/NIGHT!! <3 <3 <3 <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I really hope you enjoy this chapter of "The Secrets of Irene"!! Like all my other chapters I worked really hard on this chapter!!  
> Love you guys lots and thanks so much for reading!!

They had luckily found their ship floating in the middle of the ocean close to Phoenix Drop so the Scaleswind crew went over to the ship as close as they could, and made sure there were ways for Aphmau and her group to get on whether that be grappling hooks or just simply wooden planks. They got on the ship with Amada and Dua and were given all their stuff along with all the stuff that Nicole had gifted them, once they were finally settled on their ship the Scaleswind crew said goodbye and the two groups sailed off to their respective destinations. Another weird thing that happened to them, one of the crates that Nicole had sent them felt a little heavier but everyone kinda brushed it off and just decided that they hadn’t noticed the heaviness when carrying it the first time. 

They got to Phoenix Drop a little while after in the middle of a hot day. Laurance was the first one off with no word of anything, then Belladonna and Kitten, Katelyn, and Aaron got off with Aphmau and her two dogs. 

Levin and Malachi caught word of their arrival from Alexis and headed right over to see them. Levin was the first one to notice the cat's ears and gasped loudly when he did, Malachi was a little late to notice but when he did he choked and started coughing. 

Levin patted his brother’s back as Aphmau walked out of the ship with Katelyn and Aarron trailing behind her with the dogs. “MOM!” He said while laughing “What’s with the ears!?” 

Aphmau and Katelyn sighed, Katelyn hung her head in shame “It’s a long story.” Aphmau groaned “But to get to the point we were cursed.”

“ _What!?_ ” Malachi signed, Aphmau was able to learn more RSL while at Scaleswind which was nice “ _Cursed!? I’ll get Kawaii~Chan to see if she can help you!_ ” Malachi signed before taking Levin’s hand off his back and running away to go get Kawaii~Chan. Malachi had already taught Aphmau all of Phoenix Drop’s residents ‘sign names’. 

Levin rolled his eyes as he moved in to hug his mom “He didn’t even hug you yet.” He said sadly. 

Aphmau laughed and hugged her son tightly “I missed you guys and I bet he’ll hug me when he comes back.” 

Levin nodded while pulling away “So you guys aren’t in any pain with those things?” 

Katelyn shook her head “They feel like nothing honestly, it’s like they could be clothes or something but we can’t take them off.” 

“Dang, does it suck?” 

“It feels humiliating.” 

“It’s fine.” 

Levin held back a laugh “I see you two have very different opinions on this.” 

The pitter-patter of feet interrupted what Aphmau was going to say and everyone turned their shoulders to see where the sound was coming from. 

A small purple-haired child came running from the boat with the brightest smile Aphmau had ever seen. He ran down to the docks and jumped up and down as it hit Aphmau who this child was. 

“DMITRI!?” Aaron, Katelyn, and Aphmau all screamed. 

“I’M HERE SUCKERS!” Dmitri exclaimed in happiness as he jumped up and down. 

“That’s why our food was missing!” Aaron yelled and groaned “Cuz this little brat!” 

“Your mom is going to kill you _and me_!” Aphmau stomped her foot down “What the fuck are you doing here!?” 

“Okay, my mom can’t kill me if she doesn’t know where I am-”

“Your mother is definitely knowing as soon as possible.” 

Dmitri groaned “What!” He whined “I’ve never been to Phoenix Drop before but I’ve been to every other place! Can I at least stay here for a day?”

“Are you kidding me?” Aphmau asked. 

“Well Aph, it did take a little over a week for us to get here. He’s gonna have to stay here while Nicole gets the message which might take a few days and then comes over here which who knows, might take _two_ weeks!” Katelyn negotiated “I don’t like the kid but we can’t just kick him out for who knows what.” 

Aphmau pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed “Fine! Okay, but we are telling your mother as soon as I get pen and paper, also you’re gonna have to behave.” 

Dmitri stood straight and saluted Aphmau “Right on, ma'am!” He giggled. 

Aphmau sighed “You’re welcome.” 

The sound of muttering Japanese alerted Aphmau that Kawaii~Chan was coming to see what was up with their curse, the woman turned her head, Kawaii~Chan was muttering to themself with Malachi and Nekoette~Tan following behind. Like Aphmau predicted, Malachi ran past Kawaii~Chan and hugged Aphmau tightly, apologizing for not hugging her before and telling her how much he missed her. 

When Kawaii~Chan lifted their head they gasped and went down to Dmitri’s level “Aren’t you just the cutest little kid!” They squealed and squished Dmitri’s face together, their pale hands contrasting with the kid's dark skin. 

Dmitri gagged and squirmed his way out of Kawaii~Chan’s hands “Who are you!?”

“ _Who’s the kid?_ ” Malachi signed, raising his eyebrows. 

“I was thinking the same thing but everything was going too fast for me to ask.” Levin agreed, slightly hitting his brother in the shoulder to show that he was thinking the same thing. 

“I feel like that’s been happening lately.” Aaron pointed out “Like nature hasn’t figured itself out yet.” 

Nekoette~Tan was softly jumping up and down at the sight of the boy “Can we keep him, mommy?” She asked, “Can he be my Onii~Chan?” 

“He’s not a pet.” Katelyn laughed. 

“What‘s an ‘Onii~Chan’?” Dimitri said with slight disgust “That sounds gross.” 

“It just means older brother in Japanese.” Kawaii~Chan corrected “It’s nothing bad, now Kawaii~Chan knows they're here to look at this meif’wa curse but this kid is just so cute! He has hair like Dante~Kun!” They giggled. 

“Like mine!” Nekoette~Tan pointed out while still jumping up and down. 

“ _It’s actually more on the purple side._ ” Malachi signed while tapping his foot to get people’s attention. 

“Kawaii~Chan guesses so.” Kawaii~Chan tilted their head to see the hair at a better angle “It’s still an unnatural color like Dante~Kun’s.” 

“Is no one wondering who these kid’s parents are?” Levin asked. 

Aphmau laughed “Oh right, he’s Nicole’s.” 

“NICOLE’S!?” Kawaii~Chan and Levin snapped. 

“ _Well I mean we haven’t had contact with Nicole since forever ago so it’s entirely possible that she had a kid during these fifteen years._ ” Malachi guessed. 

“So this is…” Kawaii~Chan’s sentence faltered. 

“Who's the lucky guy?” Levin asked

Dmitri let out a small frown “My father died before I was born.” 

Nekoette~Tan ‘awed’ “That sounds horrible, I’m so sorry.” 

“How old are you Dmitri~Sama?” Kawaii~Chan asked. 

“Six.” 

Nekoette~Tan gasped loudly and jumped up and down “Mommy! Mommy! He’s my age! Can I play with him? Can I please play with him?”

Kawaii~Chan bit her cheek and turned to Levin and Malachi “Boys, where is Dante~Kun?”

“I think he just left for patrol around Phoenix Drop.” Levin answered, “I’m not sure when he’ll be back.” 

Kawaii~Chan nodded and lifted themself from the ground, when they turned to Aphmau and Katelyn they jumped “Hōrīshitto! Anata wa meifuwadesu!!?” They yelled and grabbed Aphmau’s head so the meif’wa could look at Aphmau’s mief’wa features better. [HOLY SHIT! You're a meif'wa!]

Malachi sighed “ _Kawaii~Chan that’s the reason I brought you here._ ” He signed, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh right!” Kawaii~Chan snapped their fingers near Aphmau’s cat ears, igniting a ringing sound to blast through Aphmau’s eardrums and making her flinch in pain. “Well, these are for sure real and not fakes.” 

“There can be fake meif’wa ears?” Aaron asked. 

“There can be fake anything!” Kawaii~Chan pointed out “Now come here real quick.” They went over to Katelyn and did the same thing to her ears and she acted the same way that Aphmau did. 

“Hey!” Aphmau and Katelyn yelled. 

“Why’d you do that?” Aphmau asked. 

“Well Kawaii~Chan needed to know if they were fakes or not, Kawaii~Chan knows how to curse fake cat ears onto someone but they aren’t that skilled on how to make _real_ cat ears appear on someone.” Kawaii~Chan looked down and wrapped her hand around Aphmau’s always moving tail “along with a real cat tail.” They looked over to Katelyn and noticed the same thing. 

Levin and Malachi helped as the group took the rest of their stuff out of the boat and onto the docks, they weren’t exactly sure where to put all the stuff that Nicole had given them but they did take some things to the tree while they just left the rest on the docks to deal with later. Kawaii~Chan took Katelyn and Aphmau to their house so they could inspect the ears longer, Laurance was probably in the tree doing his own things and Aphmau didn’t want to bother him so Aphmau just told Kawaii~Chan that Laurance had the same problem as them. Katelyn and Aphmau told Kawaii~Chan what exactly had happened to them and why they were cursed with these new meif’wa features. 

“So, are you from the Tu’La region?” Aphmau asked, “Michi told us that ninety-eight percent of meif’wa come from that region.” Aphmau and Katelyn were both sitting in what Kawaii~Chan called her ‘Magic Room’. 

Kawaii~Chan nodded as they flipped through books and took ingredients off the shelves “Kawaii~Chan used to be part of a meif’wa tribe until they decided to open a maid cafe in Ru’aun because Kawaii~Chan finally wanted something to do with their life. A few across some villages, then O’Khasis for a few years, then the one that Aphmau~Senpai found when she was making her way towards Scaleswind the first time!” Kawaii~Chan sighed sadly “Kawaii~Chan doesn’t have time for maid cafes anymore though, they remind Kawaii~Chan of a strange time in life.” 

“Well I mean your ‘maid’ cafe was just naked girls.” Aphmau laughed. 

“Still a maid cafe.” They said before turning around and leaning against the counter they were working on “So Mikai~Kun older sister did this to you, huh?” 

“You know Mikai?” 

“Of course Kawaii~Chan does! He used to be a really good friend of Kawaii~Chan’s back in Tu’La, the world is pretty small after all.” They laughed. 

“Huh, well yeah I met Mikai in Scaleswind. He was in a refugee group running from Tu’La because the King of Havas turned into a tyrant of some sort.” Aphmau explained Mikai’s situation from what she remembered. 

“The King of Havas has always been a nasty tyrant.” They said cruelly before turning back around to their work “But Kawaii~Chan knows his influence would never reach us here, probably why Mikai was moving over to Ru’aun. Now, Kawaii~Chan has to ask you about Dmitri.” 

“What about him?” Katelyn asked, “We kinda explained his whole deal already, the brat.” 

“He looks a lot like Dante~Kun, doesn’t he?” Kawaii~Chan. 

The girls shrugged “I didn’t really notice.” 

“Yeah, same.” 

“Did Nicole~Chan tell you his father’s name?” 

Aphmau shook her head but she quickly noticed that Kawaii~Chan couldn’t see that “No after I asked her about his father she got all sentimental and didn’t really answer any other questions about him.” 

Kawaii~Chan went silent, the only sound in the room was the pages of the books flipping as Kawaii~Chan’s hands moved over them and the sounds of herbs, liquids, and powders being mixed. The tension in the room was very apparent as Kawaii~Chan’s movements got sharper and more aggressive till she put her hands up above the books and sighed softly. 

“You know Nekoette~Tan has always wanted an older brother, but the boys in town are younger than her so she’s always looked up to Levin and Malachi~Sama. Kawaii~Chan is glad Dmitri’s here, he’ll be nice to Nekoette~Tan.” 

“Are you okay?” Aphmau asked softly. 

Kawaii~Chan turned around with a soft smile on their face “Kawaii~Chan is fine, you guys can do what you want for now while they look some things up.” 

Katelyn groaned loudly “This is so unbelievably humiliating!” 

Kawaii~Chan raised their eyebrow in confusion “What is? The meif’wa features or the fact that you practically just called Kawaii~Chan’s species ‘humiliating’?” 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“Oh really? Cause that just sounded _a lot_ like you calling Kawaii~Chan’s species humiliating.” The meif’wa snapped “So tell Kawaii~Chan what exactly is humiliating about this whole situation.” 

“I won’t be respected like this, I’ll be looked at as a fool, I _have_ been looked at like a fool. I’ve been taken advantage of while looking like this and it’s just so pathetic.” 

Kawaii~chan pursed her lips “You know you’re a real bitch.” 

Aphmau choked on her spit and Katelyn looked at her with wide eyes, they had both never heard Kawaii~Chan curse before. 

“Yes, Kawaii~Chan can tell you’ve been through a lot but you can’t blame that on being a meif’wa. You really shouldn’t blame whatever happened to you on _anything_! Just because this one experience happened to you while being a meif’wa doesn’t mean the entire species is like that, Kawaii~Chans knows deep down that’s what you were meaning. Because if you think about it for a second you would realize you just called Kawaii~Chan pathetic, a fool, unrespectable, and humiliating, and if you think about it even deeper then you would realize that you just called _all_ meif'wa that! But maybe your little human brain can’t comprehend the microaggressions that you just commit against the meif’wa species.” 

Katlyn’s mouth was left agape “Kawaii~Chan I never intended for it to seem like I was… being… speciest against you.” 

“Well, you did.” Kawaii~Chan snapped “Kawaii~Chan been belittled too many times because they are a meif’wa just for you to say this and think nothing of it.” 

“I’m sorry, I truly am.” 

“Hm, it’s still not okay that you thought _and_ said that. Kawaii~Chan honestly thinks it would be best for you if you just left and went to get some rest.” Kawaii~Chan said their final word before turning back around. 

Aphmau was more than willing to get out of this situation but Katelyn was hesitant since she didn’t want Kawaii~Chan thinking that she meant to offend her, she didn’t even know that what she was saying was offensive. Katelyn was left alone on Kawaii~Chan’s doorstep as Aphmau ran off somewhere else. 

Aphmau went up inside the tree, she wanted to speak with Laurance even though she was afraid of him, she wanted to see if he was okay although she had nightmares of him killing her. When she reached the treehouse part of the tree she froze still, Laurance was sitting on one of the outside branches of the tree looking out the horizon. Aphmau made her way over the guard slowly and quietly to not alert the man. It was a bit difficult to get to the branch that Laurance was on but once she got on it was much easier to get over to the man, Aphmau knew he already knew she was there but he didn’t even turn his head to check. 

Aphmau slid down to a sitting position with her legs dangling off the branch like Laurance’s. Her throat was already getting tight which signaled her that she was going to start crying, she was annoyed at this since she just wanted to address their situation without crying. 

“I think I have PTSD from that night.” Aphmau was the first one to say anything, not even turning to talk to Laurance. 

“I think I do too.” 

“I have nightmares of you killing people… and me.” 

“Same.” 

“You scared me, Laurance.” 

“I scared myself.” 

Aphmau’s eyes were getting teary and it was harder for her to hold back the tears. Laurance’s face was emotionless as he talked to Aphmau. 

“I don’t want to be scared of you, you’re my friend.” 

“I’m scared of myself Aph, I don’t think you can be friends with someone scared of themself.” 

“Yeah but….” She let out a shaky breath “I regret kissing you.” 

“Why?” 

“I feel like it made everything worse. I just didn’t want you to kill yourself but I think kissing you wasn’t the best way to show that.” 

“I can see that.” 

Aphmau turned to Laurance for the first time during their conversation “Do you want to talk about anything? I feel like I don’t talk to you about yourself a lot and I have this bad feeling deep down.” 

He shrugged and still didn’t look at Aphmau “I feel like my head is fighting with itself, I’m trying to tell myself that not everyone in the world deserves to die, and even if they do they shouldn’t but I’m also telling myself that I should kill everyone here and have no remorse. I remember everything that happened to me in Hell, I remember the feeling of my eyes losing sight, I remember everything and I wish I didn’t. I think that if I killed myself everything would be fine again and maybe I wouldn’t have to deal with all the shit I’m going through.” 

Aphmau didn’t say anything, she just listened to Laurance as he vented to her about his troubles and his fears. He talked about wanting to gain his immortality but also not wanting to kill Aphmau, about Hell calling out to him and trying to get in his head but no one else hears anything so he just looks and feels crazy, about death and how he thought that if he just died all his worries would melt away. By the end of his big vent, his eyes were teary and he was about to start crying. Aphmau just sat there and listened to him, she only held his hand when she saw that things were getting bad for him and his shoulders started softly shaking. 

“I’m sorry.” She said softly “I don’t think I can say anything to make your situation better but I’m just… I’m so sorry.” 

He tried to dry his tears but they just kept coming “Thanks, I’m just… I’m just scared.” 

She nodded “I would be too… I’ve only experienced a little of what you’re going through and I’m already freaking out but you’ve been through so much. You are so _so_ strong.” 

He nodded “Thank you.” 

“You’re my best _best_ friend that I love to a strange amount. I can't lose you yet because if I lose you who’s gonna be my knight in shining armor.” 

He laughed for the first time during this conversation which brightened Aphmau’s heart so much “I’m always gonna be your knight in shining armor even if you don’t want me to.” He sniffled softly. He liked talking to Aphmau, he hadn’t done it in so long and it honestly made a nice feeling bubble in his chest. 

Her smile was so bright “You are always gonna be my savior.” She giggled “And I’m always gonna be there for you okay? Talk to me whenever.”

“I have Dante to talk to, I don’t need you.” 

Aphmau gasped “How dare you! You are so mean!” 

He laughed “I know! I know! That’s my whole thing, I’m a demon, I’m mean.” He yelled loudly.

Aphmau was laughing so hard she almost fell back off the branch but Laurance put his hand on her back and said that they should probably head inside so no one died. Laurance helped her as they made their way back into the tree so if one of them fell the other would follow, luckily it was a little easier to walk on the tree again since she already did once. 

Aphmau found a pen and paper to write on and with some small suggestions from Laurance she wrote a letter to Nicole about Dmitri stowing away on their ship and coming to Phoenix Drop. They didn’t do much for the rest of the day, just hanging out and trying to strengthen their relationship again. The rest of the day felt pretty chill too, nothing exciting happened and everyone just seemed to be taking it fairly slow. Everything was peaceful and quiet in the safehold inside Phoenix Drop. 

The next day Aphmau woke up a bit late, but not in the middle of the day, more like it was around nine am when she woke up. She was able to catch Kawaii~Chan and Donna setting up a small breakfast table for the group since it seemed the majority of them were still asleep. Emma and Kenmur were nowhere to be seen so Aphmau assumed that they were already up and got breakfast before all of them which Aphmau found strange that they didn’t want to say hi to Aphmau after not seeing her the other day. 

Aphmau grabbed a plate after helping Kawaii~Chan and Donna a bit and waited around for everyone else to wake up which wasn’t a long wait at all. The only people sleeping still were Kitten and Laurance while everyone else was just not paying attention and only figured out the breakfast table was there a few minutes after it was set up.

Kitten went up and quickly took the last croissant before Katelyn grabbed it. 

Katelyn gasped “You bitch!” She snapped. 

Kitten giggled as she bit into the croissant “Look, you snooze you lose.” 

“You woke up after me!” Katelyn yelled, her cat striking upwards. 

Kitten laughed again “You snooze you lose!” She repeated, skipping away from the woman. 

Katelyn groaned and stomped her foot, Aphmau went over and waved a piece of toast in her face “Come on Katelyn, don’t be a grumpy pants.” 

“I never liked you.” the woman laughed. 

“You love me,” Aphmau said in a sing-song. 

Katelyn smiled and laughed happily, taking the toast from Aphmau’s hands and pouting as she bit into it “It’s not a croissant.” 

“Pfft, you’re so picky.” 

Katelyn shrugged “Meh, I mean what would you choose, a croissant or a piece of toast.” 

“Eggs.” 

“That wasn’t an option.” 

“So?”

Katelyn groaned and continued to eat the piece of toast while Aphmau softly laughed and put her empty plate back on the table with the other plates that people had eaten off of. 

“I’ve never seen you so… joke-able.” Aphmau pointed out. 

Katelyn shrugged as stared at the other people in the treehouse “Don’t get used to it, the last time I let my guard down and decided to do something I wanted to do… Jeffory died.” 

“You and Jeffory were really close right?” 

Katelyn nodded “He was way too nice to be in the Jury of Nine, maybe if I wasn’t sick that week he wouldn’t have been assigned to Pikoro and wouldn’t have died.” 

“I’m sorry about that by the way, I never knew that taking the lords was gonna result in Jeffory’s death.”

“It's fine, I saw that maybe things would’ve changed but… I think no matter what happened Zane was planning on killing Jeffory after all of this. Again, he was too nice.” Katelyn took a cup of orange juice off the table and began drinking. 

“What about Abby? What happened to her.” 

“Nothing much, I told her who I was, she said she wanted nothing to do with me, she said that she was planning her ‘revenge’, and then she left before I could tell her anything about Zane.” Katelyn explained, “She carried gold weapons like her father, it was cute.” 

“Do you think that you and Jeffory could ever… date? If things changed of course.” 

Katelyn shook her head and smiled softly “No, no, I love that dude I really do but I’m uh… I’m a lesbian actually.” 

“Oh. I did not… know that.” 

“Yeah, uh, I don’t think anyone did.” 

“Have you always known this?” 

“I found out a couple of years ago, our time.” She laughed “Yeah most people don’t guess that about me but I’ve made out with about every woman in the Jury of Nine so…” She shrugged. 

“Huh, sounds exciting.” 

“It really is.” She turned to Aphmau with a concerned face “Are you feeling okay by the way? Your voice sounds a bit scratchy.” 

Aphmau massaged her throat for a second before shaking her head “I’m fine.”

Katelyn nodded “Okay, just making sure. You should probably go to Zoey or something to see if she has anything to help you just in case.” 

“Yeah, I think that’s the best-case scenario. Well, I’ll hopefully see you later Lady Katelyn.” Aphmau jokingly bowed down to the woman as she exited the treehouse. She quickly grabbed the letter she had made last night so she could tell either Malachi or Levin that she was ready to send out a letter to Nicole. 

Katelyn cringed “Oh dear gods never call me that again.”

Aphmau laughed as she exited out of the treehouse down the stairs. There were stairs on the outside of the treehouse that she went down, they were there since Aphmau and her group got here in Phoenix Drop but she had never used them because she didn’t know where they went but she learned that they just went near Donna’s house which would be a good excuse to see the lovely lady Donna. 

Rollo and Lello were trying to play a form of checkers but they were just throwing the pieces at each other, Donna was washing clothes with Luca sleeping on the rollable baby crib next to her. When Aphmau went over Donna treated her like nothing was wrong so Aphmau intentionally mentioned her cat ears which Donna just shrugged at, she said that she had to deal with almost all her children and Logan turning into animals so she didn’t really care about the new meif’wa Aphmau. Aphmau mentioned her possible sickness and Donna went and grabbed a little white pill and a small cup of shiny liquid, she said that it would help Aphmau’s throat but not her possible sickness. Aphmau took it and was immediately overwhelmed by the contrasting taste, the pill was bitter but the liquid was sweet which was a very strange combination to Aphmau. Donna noticed the letter in her hand and said that Logan was out in his merchant booth with a messenger bird that he was going to send out today, if Aphmau wanted to send that message to Nicole she better do it now. Aphmau thanked her and ran off to the middle of the settlement. 

Donna was true in her word and Logan was sitting at his booth with Malachi sitting on the outside reading some papers. Aphmau went over with her letter in hand hoping that Logan would let her use the messenger bird.

Aphmau froze in front of the booth.

“You like?” Logan wiggled his eyebrows. 

“It's a hawk.” 

The man shrugged and sat up “It can still carry letters… like the one you have in your hand.” Logan pointed to the letter in Aphmau’s hand. 

Malachi turned “ _Is that the letter for Nicole?_ ” He asked. 

Aphmau nodded “Yeah, I wanted to know if you could send this bird to Scaleswind? I need this letter to go to Nicole so she knows that Dmitri is in Phoenix Drop.” 

Logan shrugged and took the letter from Aphmau's hand and looked at a tag on the bird's wing “It goes to, blah, blah, blah… Scaleswind there!” He attached the letter to a little satchel that the bird was carrying “It should get there in a few days, most likely two.” 

Aphmau clapped her hands “That’s good!”

Logan laughed and shook his head. 

“What?” She asked. 

He pointed at Aphmau’s head “Cat ears, did you end up in trouble again?” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and groaned, leaning against the merchant booth “Please do not get me started.” 

Logan barked out a laugh “You’ve always been, little miss trouble, huh?” He clapped his hands “The gods of fate really have it out for you.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

Malachi stomped his foot to get Aphmau's attention and began signing “ _We’ve fortified the walls a bunch but we’re not done and we’re working on re-doing the plaza as well! Oh, and Kenmur and Emmalyn are talking with Sasha currently with Alexis guarding them!_ ” 

“That’s so good Malachi! I’m so proud of you guys, seriously. You’ve been working so hard and I can’t wait to see what you guys do with Phoenix Drop next!” She clapped her hands in joy “And I guess I should go see Emmalyn and Kenmur, huh?” 

“ _If you want to, I was just mentioning them! Oh and it would mean the world to me if you checked out the plaza, we’ve been working really hard on it._ ” 

“You don’t have to ask me twice, I was already planning on heading over there once I heard you guys had started working on it.” 

Malachi smiled under his scarf “ _Have fun with Emmalyn and Kenmur!_ ” 

Logan waved goodbye “Try not to get into any more trouble while walking over to the guard station, ‘kay.” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Logan as she walked away from the boys, not forgetting to say bye to Malachi as well. As she walked away, the last thing she spotted before being almost trampled was Dante walking into the settlement after his shift of patrol. 

The kids ran past Aphmau to go talk to Dante like he was some famous person. 

Nekoette~Tan’s tail waved in the air as she jump-hugged her father and wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her cheek. 

“Hi, honey!” Dante picked up his little girl and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t come home last night. I had a night shift.” 

“It’s okay! Meet my new friend Dmitri~Sama!” Nekoette~Tan pointed at the purple-haired boy. 

“Dmitri, huh?” His eyebrows furrowed “Well it’s nice to meet you, Dmitri…?” He was trying to get Dmitri’s last name. 

“Von Rosenburg.” 

“Von… um well, my name is Dante Zhou, I’m Nekoette~Tan's father.” 

“But she’s a meif’wa and you’re a human.” 

Dante laughed “I know it’s a little complicated, just go with it okay?” 

“Okay!” Dmitri smiled brightly, Aphmau walked over to the group to just observe. 

“Oto-san, did you know that Dmitri~Sama is the heir to the throne of Scaleswind?” Nekoette~Tan asked with glee. 

Dante’s face drained of all color as Kawaii~Chan walked out of their house with a stern face, of course, the color draining out of Dmitri’s face wasn’t about Kawaii~Chan’s face rather it was because the only way Dmitri could be the heir to the throne was if Nicole had a child. 

“Anata,” Kawaii~Chan said in a stern voice “can Kawaii~Chan see you inside the house for a bit?” Their hands were on their hips. 

Dante slowly put Nekoette~Tan down “Is uh… is something wrong?” He stammered from the shock of learning this news about Dmitri, a random kid he just met. 

“Depends.” 

“Am I in trouble?” He scratched his neck in nervousness. 

“Depends.” 

Dante bit his lip “Please don’t yell at me too loud, I get scared easily.” 

Aphmau held back a laugh as the man shot her a look of pure anger. She patted the old man’s back “Praying for you Dante.” 

He snatched his shoulder away and sneakily flipped her off before walking towards Kawaii~Chan in fear of what he was possibly going to be in trouble for. 

Aphmau said hi to Dmitri and Nekoette~Tan before finally heading out to the guard station. She had changed into an outfit Nicole had given her before getting breakfast and it was perfect for the arriving cold weather as they got into the winter seasons. She was wearing a long-sleeve black turtleneck under a normal shirt that was tucked into beige cargo pants, her black combat boots had the cargo pants hanging over them because they add some extra warmth, her tangled thick hair was lying all the way against her lower back which also gave her some warmth for her back. Even though she had gotten a lot of clothes from Donna and Kawaii~Chan Nicole had given her, and everyone in her group, almost a full closet worth of clothes which were so generous of her and made Aphmau so thankful. She knew that Nicole was going to be a great lord for Scaleswind. 

Aphmau was about to take a turn for the guard station when someone called her name from a distance. She stopped in her tracks and did one-eighty to see Dante running after her. 

The guard stopped in front of the woman and took a deep breath “Is Dmitri really Nicole’s son?” 

“Yeah, I’m surprised that no one here knew,” Aphmau answered, shoving her hands in her pocket. 

“No one has had contact with her a long while…. Who… who is she with?” 

“Why?” 

“Just tell me.” 

Aphmau sighed “She never said, all she said was that he died before Dmitri was born.” 

“Oh, I’m glad Kawaii~Chan brought me into the house to tell me this, I would’ve cried knowing that was truly Nicole’s son.” He looked down in shame “Is she good by the way? Like is she in good health?” 

Aphmau nodded “She’s good, she misses everyone but she said that she has a role to fill as the Lord of Scaleswind. She was really happy to see us.” 

He smiled softly “That’s good, do you think that she’s gonna come to Phoenix Drop?” 

Aphmau shrugged “Not really sure, I mean hopefully, she’ll be the one to pick up her son but I would understand if she didn’t.” 

“Well, I guess Dmitri is staying with me and Kawaii~Chan until Nicole comes, sorry for interrupting your walk.” 

“Don’t be sorry! It’s all cool, I would rather have you interrupt my walk than have you worry about Nicole and her kid.” Aphmau smiled “Now I want to go see Emmalyn and Kenmur so have a nice day.” 

“Have a nice day Aph.” Dante waved goodbye as the two turned around and walked away in different directions. 

Aphmau continued to the guard station where she found Alexis standing outside, the girl’s guard armor reminded Aphmau that both Katelyn and Laurance probably needed new armor that fit their needs better. 

She said hello to Alexis and entered the run-down guard station. Emmalyn sat at a table with a dozen books with her while Sasha and Kenmur were nowhere to be seen. She assumed that they were somewhere upstairs since they weren’t in the cell and that’s really the only other place they would be. 

“Hello, Aphmau!” Emmalyn put her book down to hug the woman “How was your guys’ trip?” 

Aphmau leaned her heads towards the woman “Not that great.” 

Emmalyn laughed and pushed Aphmau’s head away “Was it exciting at least.” 

Aphmau shrugged “Might’ve gained some PTSD from it so yeah.” 

Aphmau looked a bit worried but brushed it off like Aphmau had “Well, Cadenza sent me a few more books on Irene and I got those books that Nicole sent us on Irene so hopefully I can look over them with Kenmur tonight…” her sentence faltered and she bit her lip. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Kenmur’s still in complete awe of Sasha. One minute he doesn’t want anything to do with her, the next he’s fawning over her. It hurts a little but I also understand that he’s going through a lot right now.” 

“I bet everything will be fine Emmalyn, I mean of course he’s gonna be confusing, it’s a confusing situation.” 

“I know, I know. It’s just… it kinda hurts to see your crush with someone else.” 

The first thought that went through her head was ‘Garroth’. Garroth had somehow seen Aphmau and Laurance kiss and that’s what broke him, that’s what made him betray Phoenix Drop because the two people he trusted more than anything betrayed him… he betrayed them for revenge… not because he was jealous or because he was petty. He was getting his revenge for lying to _him_. 

Emmalyn snapped her out of her frozen state and began talking to her about the things she found in her books and the things she took note of. They spent a couple of minutes together talking about the books Emmalyn was reading until Aphmau remembered that Malachi wanted her to check out the plaza. Aphmau said a quick goodbye to Emmalyn and told her to say to Kenmur for her before heading out of the guard station and going over to the plaza which she skipped earlier in her walk for some reason. 

She still remembered the path she always took to get to the plaza. She missed heading to the plaza every day with one of her dogs and talking to her friends there. She sometimes imagined that the Irene stuff never happened, that yes they did go into the Irene Dimension but they didn’t time jump… maybe she could be the lord she always wanted to be if they didn’t time jump. Was she even meant to be the lord she wanted to be? Levin was already a ten times better lord than she ever could be, if they did move and made a type of capital for the Phoenix Alliance would she be the lord of it, or would Belladonna, or maybe someone else if Belladonna didn’t want to take on that responsibility. 

When Aphmau entered the plaza she was taken aback, she didn’t expect the plaza to be so well done. The merchant booths that used to be there were no more and instead, the entire plaza was empty, the cracks in the ground were filled, the entire floor was swept and there was no sign of dirt beside the caked-on grime that got there from fifteen years of not being taken care of, there were beautiful plants and flowers all around the perimeter of the plaza, and there seemed to be a small pattern on the ground starting at the top of the plaza. Aphmau was really impressed by all the work that was being done to the plaza and in the village in general. She knew that they weren’t done with the wall but she was still very glad about all the work they were doing without her, she was really looking forward to where Malachi and Levin were going to take Phoenix Drop next. 

As she walked around the empty plaza she began thinking about her time as lord, did she really want to be a possible goddess as well as the lord of an alliance capital? The reason why she gave the job of alliance leader to Belladonna was of course because Aphmau thought Belladonna was very qualified for the job but because she already had the stress of being lord and she didn’t want to add more stress onto herself. The big question would be if she wanted to become a lord again, was she fit to fill that role or should it be given to someone else? She stared at the marking on her hands, maybe being a lord was too much for her. She tried shrugging it off and headed back towards the settlement to continue her day as usual. 

She leaned against Garroth’s shoulder as he processed everything she told him. She had explained almost everything important to him and in his defense, a lot of important stuff had happened so it was taking him a minute to collect his thoughts. Everything around them was just perfect, the temperature, the weather, the sky, the smells, everything… it was making Aphmau believe that this was all just a dream and none of it was truly real. If it was all a dream it was a very cruel thing for the gods or the Titans to do to her, why would they make her see Garroth and miss him all over again just to make it not real, just to make all the conversations she had with him ‘not real’.

“So you have a crush on him… but you’re scared of him?” He asked. 

“I don’t think I’m scared of _him_ as Laurance but… like his Shadow Knight form, the things he could do, the things he did.” 

“You’re scared of his possible actions.” 

“I guess.” She shrugged, she wasn’t actually sure of what she was feeling, what it was called. She was in this weird state of being happy and feeling ‘normal’ and then she zones out for a quick second and everything just comes back, she didn’t even know if that was considered PTSD “Did you ever have to deal with things like… like PTSD?” 

He took a deep breath and ran his finger through his hair “Not as severe as what Laurance has or the severity you have but I do have what like a form of trauma I’d like to say. I went through some things as a child, a teenager, the things I saw, heard, had to do. I had nightmares and panic attacks almost every night, it got a little better as I got older and moved to Phoenix Drop but… I still had those terrible moments and episodes sometimes.” 

“I never knew, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be, no one knew.” 

“Oh.” She was a bit stumped, how come she had never noticed that about Garroth. Even with Garroth _just saying_ that _no one_ knew she still felt mad at herself for not even questioning anything “So how did you deal with it? Like how did you try and get better?” 

“I talked, talked about it to my mirror, to my journal, before Phoenix Drop I talked about it to my friends, therapist, my teachers. If you don’t talk all those feelings and emotions get shoved up inside you and just stay there, and as time goes on that little bubble inside you grows. It will grow and grow and grow until you can’t take it anymore and you start considering the extreme.” 

“Did Laurance talk to you?” 

He smiled softly “Yeah, he talked to me a lot about the things he went through in hell. He talked about a lot of things to me, sometimes I would wake him up for patrol and he would be curled up in his bed sobbing, I’d stay there for hours and hours just listening to him.”

“Did you ever talk to Laurance?” 

He shook his head “Laurance was the turnout of a guard who didn’t listen to the ‘lessons’ the other guards taught on how to be masculine. He wasn’t afraid to show his emotions even if it was hard for him to do so…. I on the other hand grew up with those lessons on how to be masculine. I never ignited any conversations about my feelings, my own therapist had to fight with me to get anything out.” He let out a shaky breath “Laurance tried and tried and _tried_ to get me to talk about myself, my feelings, my emotions but I just… I just wouldn’t. I was a closed bottle to everyone else but myself.”

The silence between them was absolutely 

“I never… I never talked to either of you about your problems.” Her throat was getting tight “I learned probably a little over a month ago that Laurance still dealt with the things that happened in Hell, I never listened to you guys or asked if you were okay. I always made it about me.”

“I mean I wasn’t the greatest either with Laurance, when he came out of Hell blind and tortured I wanted to ask him about Zenix. I should’ve read the room.” 

“Why do you two like me? _How_ do you two like me? I’m the most inconsiderate person to have a crush on, I never asked you guys if you were okay, I never talked to Laurance about the things he went through.” He sucked in a quick breath “I’m a terrible friend.” 

Garroth hugged the woman tightly as small tears ran from his eyes, he rubbed the woman’s shoulder and kissed the top of her head, almost getting poked in the eye from her cat ear. He pulled away and softly turned her head to look at him. 

“Do you want to hear about my problems, just let me talk?” 

“If that would help you, I just want to be there for you.” 

“Okay,” he nodded his head and took his hand off her chin “so what do you want to hear about?” 

He softly huffed out a laugh “Um, why was losing Zenix such a detrimental thing to you? I mean, of course, I felt betrayed by him but he was just your apprentice and you were his mentor, why did you act like it was the worst thing in the entire world?” 

He softly smiled and turned his head to look at the empty world before him “I took on the ‘fatherly’ role at a very young age being the oldest out of three kids. Yes we did have parents and yes they were great but they were royals, they didn’t always have time for their kids so I took on that role. After I had run away I had a hole in my heart that formed when I ran away from my two younger brothers, well at that time my younger _brother_.” he cleared his throat as his eyes got glossy remembering his deceased brother “When I came across this scared teenager who looked beaten all to hell my ‘fatherly’ instincts kicked in and I cared for him like a son. He filled a hole that my brothers had left, it would be cruel to say I used him as comfort but… in a way I did. I always wished that I had never met him because I would find out later that he had a role in the death of the Lord I protected.”

“Oh, I was always confused about who killed the old Lord.” 

“Well, you must know some more information than me because all I know was that Zenix killed the lord and burned his house down.” 

“Do you remember the old Lord and his family at all?” 

“Vaguely, I remember that him and his wife were dicks.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, a lot of people when we found out Levin was the son of the old Lord figured that his wife had an affair with me which is entirely wrong because I hated them both. Uh, the old Lord used to sexually harass Donna and I had to get on him a ton about it, when I told his wife about his harassment towards Donna she did nothing. She didn’t divorce him, take the kids away, or give him up to the authorities, she just said ‘okay’ and went on with her day. A week later she started to make _me_ feel uncomfortable, I had to be with Donna twenty-four seven to make sure nothing happened to her and I would get really paranoid whenever I saw the old Lord and his wife.” 

“I always knew that Donna felt uncomfortable talking about him or whenever he was mentioned. I didn’t know why though.” 

“Yeah, he was a terrible person, and even though I was his guard and had to protect him I was a little happy that he disappeared.” 

“Oh wow.” 

“Now can I ask you a question?” 

“Sure.” 

He looked down at Aphmau’s lips before looking back up at her eyes “Do you know which one you like better? Me or Laurance?” 

“I’m still unsure if I really have a crush on you two, I may just love you because we’re so close.” 

He nodded “Love is a confusing thing.” 

“Yeah, tell me about it.” 

The church bell rang through the world scaring Aphmau into grabbing onto Garroth’s arm for some sort of protection. They both turned their head towards each other, staring into each other’s eyes before Aphmau’s vision went blurry and white and she gasped awake staring at the bushy leafy roof that was the treehouse. 

She sighed deeply and lifted herself to sit up, Katelyn was helping Laurance get back into a chair that was seated next to Aphmau’s cot. 

Katelyn jumped a little when she noticed Aphmau right there “Oh dear gods I was not expecting you to be up dear gods you scared me.” She laughed and leaned against the sleeping man. 

“What happened?” 

“Oh, last night Laurance noticed that you were gone from your bed and assumed that you were off in your dream world so he offered to watch over you. Poor guy fell asleep on the job and then fell on the floor, and now you’re up.” 

“Oh, well that’s sweet of you.” 

“Meh, is it?” 

Aphmau laughed “No, it’s the meanest thing you could’ve done. You should’ve left him on the floor.” 

Katelyn smiled “I know right. Well, there’s breakfast on the table that you can have but I need to get back to reading the books on curses that Nicole gave us.” 

“Okay well have fun with that. I’m going to do something today.” 

“Sounds good, be safe.” 

“You too.” 

Katelyn walked away from Aphmau and went back to her little station in the treehouse. Aphmau looked over at Laurance, his cat ears and tail were relaxed as she slept peacefully in the chair he was in, surprisingly he wasn’t awake from him falling off the chair. 

Since the wedding she’s had terrible nightmares so it was nice to take a break from that and see Garroth for once, she missed seeing him. She was glad she got to listen to him and talk to him, she really did think of herself as a bad friend for never talking to Laurance or Garroth about those types of things, it was astonishing that they even liked her. 

She put her hair up in a ponytail and swung herself out of bed, she made a beeline towards the breakfast table and took some quick food before heading out of the tree. On her way out of the tree, she ran into Malachi who was looking down in self-thought. 

“ _Oh! Mom, I was just coming up to see you! Levin wants to talk to you privately._ ” 

“About what?” 

Malachi shrugged “ _Didn’t tell me but if it was about the village I would know since we are both very open about those types of things. Most likely something personal._ ” 

“Okay,” She took a bite out of her toast “hopefully he still loves me.” 

Malachi smiled under his scarf before shrugging “ _I mean…_ ” 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “Where does he want to talk?” 

“ _I think somewhere near the docks._ ” 

“Okay thanks, love you, sweetheart.” She said and walked past the man but not before kissing him on the forehead in a motherly gesture. She ate the rest of her toast and downed the rest of her drink as she walked down the outside staircase of the tree, saying a quick hello while walking to the docks and getting ready for the talk she was about to have with Levin. Her anxiety was a little high because she had honestly no idea what he was going to talk to her about. 

He was standing on the docks, he was so mature and just so much older than Aphmau could ever have imagined. It pained her a little every time she looked at him and remembered very quickly that he was no longer his little babbling baby. 

She took a deep breath before walking over to Levin with a small pep in her step, trying to hide the fact that her entire body was vibrating with anxiety.

“Levin honey, how are you doing today?” She smiled brightly and her hair swished side to side as she bounced to a stop. 

“I’m doing just fine… Aphmau.” 

Her heart paused when he called her by her name, her _actual_ name. “What’s with the name change? Are you disowning me as your mom?” She tried to make a joke out of the very tense situation. 

“What? No, no, no, no! I would never, you are the best mom someone could ever ask for, seriously!” He defended himself “I just… I just want to be your equal. I understand that I’m your son and I always will respect you in that regard but if I’m going to be in your alliance… I don’t want anyone thinking that you’re giving us special treatment or something.” 

“I’m not giving you special treatment though. We haven’t even truly started the alliance so there really isn’t really a way _to_ give you special treatment.” 

“Yeah, but when the alliance gets made. If people know me as your son and not your equal they may think that the Phoenix Alliance is giving Phoenix Drop special treatment.” He sighed heavily “I just want to call you Aphmau to feel like your equal.” 

Aphmau’s heart ached as she finally succumbed to the reality that her baby boy was growing up, he was grown up. She smiled softly and held the boy’s hands “I understand, if you feel calling me ‘Aphmau’ instead of ‘mom’ is the right thing to do then please do it. I don’t want you feeling bad or guilty because people see me as your mother and not your equal.” 

“Thank you for being so understanding, I was really scared you were going to be sad or some other emotion that would make _me_ feel bad.” He laughed nervously. 

Aphmau giggled at her son’s weird explanation“No, I would never. I would never be ‘disappointed’ about something that you thought was genuinely right or for the best.”

“Thank you, that’s just really comforting to hear.” 

“Of course, now is that all you wanted to talk about, or is there more?” Aphmau asked, she had a slight feeling in her stomach that this wasn’t the only reason Levin wanted to talk to Aphmau, the feeling in the air was way too strange for this to be the end of the conversation. 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot so I’m glad you brought it up.” He went straight back to looking nervous “I heard you having a conversation with Zoey about how you wanted a place of your own. Do you want to move back into your old house?” 

Aphmau’s breath hitched “Oh wow, I wasn’t aware anyone could hear us.” Aphmau had been thinking of this very while now, moving away and somewhat starting over with helping the Phoenix Alliance as her main adjective. She had talked it over with Belladonna many times before but she was never sure if Aphmau wanted to go through with it, it seemed like a small thing at face value but when you were in Aphmau’s shoes it was so much bigger than anything else. “Uh yeah, I kinda wanted to move away, focus on the Phoenix Alliance more and try and I guess figure myself out. Somewhat like a capital, I’m not sure if I would be the one to be the ‘lord’ of it but I do know that I want to move.” 

“Oh wow,” Levin’s face saddened a bit but he tried to hide it from his mom so she didn’t regret her possible decision. “I wasn’t expecting that. I think a capital would be good for the alliance, to have a place where people can retreat to as a safe space. It would be a good thing to look forward to with everything happening right now with Hell and the Shadow Lord and-” Levin faltered and turned his eyes, squinting his eyes as Aphmau followed his movements. 

In the distance was a small boat with a single person inside sailing it. The boat was getting closer and closer to the docks every second Aphmau and Levin stared at it in confusion. 

“Is that Nicole?” Aphmau questioned. 

“Did she even get your letter?”

“If she did she has a _very_ fast boat.”

Levin and Aphmau just stood on the docks as the boat approached the docks, Aphmau said a little ‘YES!’ in her head when her prediction of it being Nicole turned out to be right. The weird thing that Aphmau noticed was that Nicole was _alone_. The Lord of _Scaleswind_ was _alone_ on a boat where anything could happen. It seemed as if she came over in a rush like she found out Dmitri was gone before she even got Aphmau’s letter. 

Nicole jumped onto the docks and grabbed Aphmau by her shoulders, dragging her away from Levin. 

“WHERE IS DMITRI!?” The woman yelled into Aphmau’s face. 

Aphmau was in such shock at the whole situation that she didn’t answer in time and Nicole started yelling at her again. 

“WHERE IS MY WONDERFUL SON THAT I’M GOING TO MURDER FOR DEFYING HIS MOTHER!” 

“Lord Nicole please calm down.” Levin softly said, placing his hand on Nicole’s shoulder and slightly pulling on it only for his hand to be jerked off and Nicole to snap at him. Levin retreated in fear and decided to let Aphmau deal with the angry woman. 

Nicole snapped her head back to Aphmau “WHERE IS MY SON!” 

“Holy shit Nicole! Stop yelling!” Aphmau screamed and pushed the lady off her “You can’t just barge in here and start yelling at people!” 

“Oh I’m sorry, I haven’t seen my son in OVER A WEEK!” Nicole snapped. “I don’t feel like 'being calm’ right now!” 

“Yeah, but you didn’t just have to yell at everyone!” 

“Just tell me where my son is!” 

“He’s with Kawaii~Chan and Dante!” 

Nicole’s words got stuck in her throat when she processed what Aphmau had just said. Her eyes were wide and her face was drained of all color “What?” 

“He’s with Kawaii~Chan and Dante. Pretty sure he’s been there since we got back which was like a day ago.” 

“How did you get here so quick?” Levin asked someone, diverting the conversation into something else. 

“I didn’t just get here today, I’ve been sailing for like a week now. I’ve never been so stressed in my entire life.” Nicole answered. Aphmau knew that Nicole was probably very worried for her son but Aphmau still didn’t think that Nicole was justified to be snapping and yelling at everyone. 

“Oh wow, when did you realize he was gone?” Levin asked. 

“Dmitri usually goes off on his own, bringing a guard with him and I _let him_ because I know he’ll be safe but when I found out that none of my guards were missing and none of them had seen my son _then_ I started freaking out. I set off without another word and with no one.” Nicole was a little softer in her tone this time, maybe sensing the anger in her own voice. 

“Why are you so freaked out over Dante and Kawaii~Chan having Dimitri?” 

“I’m not…. Has Dante _seen_ Dmitri yet?” 

“Yeah, he has actually, why?” 

Nicole went quiet, thinking to herself in obvious panic. She backed up from Aphmau and stared at the floor, darting her eyes from side to side like she was making a plan out in her mind or thinking of possible scenarios of things like they were happening right in front of her. Nicole wasn’t bothered to flip the loose part of her hijab over her shoulder as it was already pretty secure on her head. 

“Can you just go get him?” Nicole’s voice was weak “Please?” 

“Yeah, yeah I can do that. Just stay here, okay?” Nicole nodded as Aphmau ran into the main part of the safehold, she was worried at the way Nicole and turned all emotional all of a sudden, and Aphmau knew it wasn’t the best thing to just leave Levin but she hoped he could give some comfort to Nicole. 

Aphmau roughly slid to a stop right in front of Kawaii~Chan's house, almost falling over but she quickly regained her balance. She jogged to Kawaii~Chan’s door and knocked on the hardwood, waiting impatiently for someone to open the door. 

Kawaii~Chan opened the door with a soft smile “Hello Aphmau~Senpai! Kawaii~Chan and Nekoette~Tan were just trying to make apple pie, would you like to join them?” 

Aphmau shook her head “I’m sorry Kawaii~Chan but I’m actually looking for Dmitri. Do you happen to know where he is?” 

“Oh yes! He’s downstairs in the combat room with Dante~Kun!” Kawaii~Chan exclaimed happily. 

“Oh thank you so much!” Aphmau stepped a foot in the house before pausing and remembering her manner “May I go get him?” 

Kawaii~Chan giggled “Of course, go right in.” Kawaii~Chan moved to the side and Aphmau raced down the staircase down to the third floor that held all of their extra rooms that Kawaii~Chan and Dante used for things like weapon practice, or magick practice.

She walked down the hallway till she found the room with not only the most commotion but also the one that said ‘COMBAT ROOM’. She opened the door and her heart stopped for a second, Dante was holding Dmitri’s wrists as the little boy held on tightly to Dante’s first set of Katanas, the ones she had met Dante with. They were bigger than the boy’s entire body because they were obviously designed for someone much bigger than the little boy. It looked like Dante was holding a younger version of him but with light brown skin and purplish hair, it was almost like Dante had a little clone of himself. 

Then it hit Aphmau, it hit her like a full force brick to the face…. Dmitri was Dante’s kid, it was such an obvious thing that it was looked over. Nicole had red hair, Dante had blue hair, Dmitri has purple hair, Nicole is Arabic with brown skin and Dante is Asain with monolid eyes, Dmitri had light brown skin and monolid eyes. No wonder Nicole was so panicky about Dmitri seeing or meeting Dante, Nicole didn’t want Dante to know about the kid she had with him. 

Aphmau let out a quick breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding, it seemed like an entire entirety that she was staring at the boy and Dante but it was really just a few seconds. Dante was talking about how Dmitri can’t let Kawaii~Chan know that he’s letting him touch these things when Aphmau coughed to alert them of her presence. 

Dante snapped around “Aph! How are you doing today?” He had a soft smile on his face, the smile lines on the corner of his eyes slightly poking out. 

“I’m… I’m good.” She stammered a bit, quite taken aback from the revelation she just had “Uh, Nicole’s here actually.” 

“Huh!?” Dante gasped. 

“Yeah, she’s here and she wanted me to go get Dmitri for her since she… she didn’t want to get him herself.” Aphmau bit softly on the tip of her finger nervously. 

“Why did she want to get him herself?” 

Aphmau shrugged “Beats me.” _She knew exactly why_ “Maybe she’s just… sick?” 

“Bullshit!” Dante snapped “That’s total and complete bullshit! Why the fuck is she hiding like a coward instead of facing that man that’s she’s been ignoring for the past six years for no reason!” Dante continued to mutter to himself angrily as she stormed past Aphmau out of the room and up to the main floor, obviously going over to speak to Nicole. 

Aphmau turned her attention to the very confused little boy holding two rusty but fairly clean, steel Katanas “Uh… your mom is here.” 

“Oh cool! Can I go see her?” 

Aphmau between the door where Dante was just a second ago and the kid in front of her, clicking her tongue as she thought “I-” She sighed “I’m gonna say not right now because I think she might have an argument awaiting her.” 

“Oh…” The kid seemed a bit sad. “Can I still practice with my katanas?” 

Aphmau stared at the katanas for a second before shrugging “Do you what you want but try to not kill yourself, ‘kay?” 

“I promise!” The kid exclaimed eagerly before Aphmau left the room without another glance, not wanting to risk seeing the kid chop his hand off and be scared even more. 

She almost forgot for a quick second that Dante was totally about to yell Nicole’s face off and possibly get into a physical fight with the woman he used to date before Kawaii~Chan. Aphmau groaned quietly to herself before she bounced on her feet to get a bit of momentum and sprinted off back to the docks to find Nicole and Dante, hoping to god that she wouldn’t be left alone with them like she had left Levin. 

She slid to a stop when she reached the part of the docks where Levin, Dante, and Nicole were. Nicole and Dante were already arguing when Aphmau got there and crashed into Levin making a slight diversion in Dante’s and Nicole’s conversation as they looked over to see if the pair were okay but quickly went back to their argument like they were before Aphmau came.

“I’ve been busy with my own life Dante!” Nicole screamed as she stayed in her boat, away from the blue-haired man. 

“Oh really? So hiding away in your boat when you saw me isn’t avoiding me?” Dante asked with anger in his eyes “That’s bullshit Nicole and you know that!” 

“Can’t you just leave!? Leave me alone!” 

“No! I’m not leaving you alone after you left _me alone_ for SEVEN - FUCKING - YEARS Nicole!” Dante screamed. 

“Why can’t you just listen!? You’ve never listened, not once in your life have you ever _listened_!” 

“Because I want to know why you left me! Why did you leave me alone? Ignore me? I want to be your friend again Nicole, I want to be someone close to you again but you’re not letting me.” 

“We can’t though! We can _never_ have what we once had! I wish I could never see you again, I wish I could never look into your eyes again, Dante!” Nicole snapped. 

Dante’s breathing was loud and his chest was moving up and down fairly quickly. He still had fire in his eyes but his demeanor had changed and he looked more sad “Nicole please, please just talk to me. You know you have a beautiful son, he is mischievous just like you.” 

Nicole hiccupped from her tears “I hate you.” 

“He’s gonna make a great fighter, maybe even better than me.”

Nicole bit her lip as tears streamed down her face, Dante’s eyes only now getting teary. “You are so unbelievably stupid.” She hissed “Why would I want to look at you when I’ve looked at you for the past six years!” 

“What?” 

Aphmau hadn’t even noticed Katelyn standing right next to her and Levin so when she gasped softly to add to the drama effect Aphmau jumped out of her skin and slapped Katelyn hard. 

“Dear gods Katelyn!” Aphmau whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment “You fucking scared me!” 

“Sorry, just wanted to enjoy the show!” 

“You are so stupid.” 

Aphmau had almost missed Nicole telling Dante the big news of why she was so distraught, she caught just the middle of her sentence. 

“ -DANTE, DMITRI IS YOU FUCKING SON!” The Muslim woman yelled loudly, snapping around to face the father of her child with angry tears streaming down her face. 

Dante stood in there in complete shock, Levin, Aphmau, and Katelyn stood on the sidelines like awkward bystanders. 

“Wait… wait…. How!? When!?” Dante was oblivious. 

Nicole took a minute to try and calm herself down, to take a breath in this very stressful situation that she was in “I uh… I found out when I left for Scaleswind those years ago…. I found out I was pregnant and I came back three months later to find out you had moved on with Kawaii~Chan and… and she had moved on with you. You guys were friends yeah but… I could see the way you two looked at each other.” 

“Why couldn’t you have told me though? You wouldn’t have been ruining anything, we weren’t even together yet!” 

“How was I supposed to tell you, _who had moved on_ , that you had a child!? That I loved you two!” Nicole gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. 

Dante was taken aback in confusion “Two?” 

Tears came out of Nicole’s eyes like two waterfalls as her voice broke “I… I loved… I wanted Kawaii~Chan… I loved both… I loved both of you.” 

“Both of us.” Dante repeated “Both of us.” 

Nicole just nodded as she broke down in sobs and Aphmau’s heart couldn’t take it anymore, she raced over to Nicole, jumping in her boat and holding the woman tightly as she slowly collapsed to the ground in sobs. 

Dante just stood there in complete shock at all the new information he had learned “I have a son and you like both of us… I have a son… son…” He kept muttering to himself as Katelyn went over there and grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the sobbing lady to make sure that there weren’t any future conflict but Katelyn knew that more stuff would happen between the ex-couple. They were not just going to leave this whole situation with this confusing ass conversation. 

Katelyn took Dante over near the safehold so he could go back to his house but he just shook his head quickly while tears fell from his eyes and he ripped his arm away from Katelyn’s grip and sprinted off into the abandoned village of Phoenix Drop. Aphmau stayed with Nicole till she practically begged for the woman to leave her alone, Aphmau didn’t want to leave Nicole until she was totally ready to be alone because she didn’t just want to leave her in this sad sobbing mess. Aphmau took Levin and walked away from the docks, heading into the middle of the safehold where Katelyn stood there in complete confusion as she stared at the opened gates of the safehold. 

Aphmau assumed that she had been there for a minute or two because Aphmau didn’t leave until Katelyn and Dante were totally gone from her sight and then she stayed a little while longer. 

Levin said that he appreciated his mom for understanding that he wanted to call her ‘Aphmau’ now before saying his goodbyes and parting ways with the woman who stood at Katelyn’s side, wondering what the meif’wa cursed woman was doing. 

“What are you doing?” Aphmau asked. 

“I don’t know,” Katelyn said quietly. 

“That was something to experience, huh?” 

“Yeah, I honestly don’t know what just happened. Dante just kinda left without a word.” 

“Where he’d go?” 

Katelyn shrugged “Not sure.” 

The two stood there in silence, enjoying the other's company as they stared at the gates of the safehold in curiosity. It was rare that Aphmau just froze voluntarily, she was always moving, she always _had_ to move because if she didn’t something bad would happen. Aphmau wasn’t exactly sure what type of bad thing would happen but something bad would happen so while she stood in the middle of the safehold with Katelyn she had an underlying panic as she didn’t know what was going to happen in this time period of pausing. 

Everything was quiet besides Aphmau and Katelyn’s breathing, Aphmau had never found breathing so beautiful until she looked at Katelyn and found her lips slightly parted and her chest moving up and down as she exhaled and inhaled slowly. Katelyn stood in a trance of the path in front of her that Dante had run off on while Aphmau stood in a trance of Katelyn’s beauty that she had never gotten to appreciate although they had been friends for a while. 

Aphmau finally found the courage to speak up after a few minutes of standing still and doing nothing “Do you think I should go chase after Dante? See if he’s okay?” 

Katelyn shook her head “Nah, this is something that they have to settle between themselves without any outsiders help.” 

“But… I’m his friend… shouldn’t I at least be there for him?” 

“If you get involved it will only make things more complicated than they already are. I was once you in this situation between my two friends when I was younger, I stayed out of it and now they’re married… well I hope they’re still married.” Katelyn looked down in sadness, it sucked whenever reality hit for the time jump group and they realized that things that happened before the time jump most definitely changed after. 

“I bet they're still married.” 

“Yeah.” 

They went silent, the silence was so strange for Aphmau to experience. 

“I feel like I should go after Dante, help him with this whole thing.” 

“But, isn’t that more of a Lord situation? To settle out disputes?” 

Aphmau thought for a second, she didn’t want to be taking over Levin’s job and she had already done enough for them so maybe Levin did need to settle this on his own. She quickly changed her mind and shook her head “Nope, this is more of a friend matter than a village matter. Dante is my friend and so I need to help him.” 

Katelyn shrugged “Go wild girl, you’re only asking for drama.” 

“And you’re only asking to be boring.” 

“I’d rather be boring than risk a friendship.” Katelyn answered as she turned on her heels in the direction of the tree “I’ll see you when your ass gets kicked.” 

Aphmau scoffed at the woman and made her way out of the safehold, taking herself out of this weird silent trance that she was in that felt _weird_ but also felt pretty nice for once. She didn’t know exactly where Dante was so she scoured most of the village for Dante until she found him in one of the abandoned guard towers that were still slightly standing so it wasn’t _totally_ unsafe to go in. She had found him because she quickly went in to check if he was there and the sound of faint sniffling perked her senses. 

She found Dante on the second floor after she did some risky climbing to get there. He was semi-curled up and sitting next to a wooden pillar with an engraving on it that Aphmau couldn’t read from the terrible handiwork. 

“Dante?” She said in a whisper, a _very_ soft whisper. 

Dante turned his head “Oh… hey Aph.” He said in a whisper “What are you doing here?” 

Aphmau went over and sat next to the distraught man “Wanted to comfort my friend, wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

“But… aren’t I a bad person? I toyed with the emotions of two of my friends.” Dante sniffled. 

“Toyed? I wouldn’t say ‘toyed’, you really didn’t do anything. From what I hear Nicole had left you alone and you started obtaining feelings for Kawaii~Chan, that’s not toying with that’s just moving on.” 

“But doesn’t it sound like I used them for comfort?” 

“Did you?” Aphmau asked, she was taking it slow with Dante because she knew that he was going through something right now and probably didn’t want to deal with another person who he cared deeply for yelling at him. 

Dante took a minute to answer, contemplating his morals “I think… maybe in the beginning but then I… I started actually like them. They were there for me when Nicole wasn’t, and I mean I had small feelings for Kawaii~Chan in the beginning of us meeting so I bet our relationship would’ve happened one way or another.”

“So It went, Kawaii~Chan, Nicole, Kawaii~Chan?” 

Dante nodded “I think I liked both of them at the same time, I went for Nicole because I thought I had the most realistic chance with her after I figured that me and Kawaii~Chan wouldn’t mash with our different lifestyles. Deep down I’m pretty sure I still had feelings for Kawaii~Chan but she had left and there was no real way of seeing if I really did so I stayed with the person who made me happy.” 

“Why did you guys break up?” 

Dante sucked in a shaky breath “She left.” He shrugged “Her dad came, said they were at war with a rival village and she was needed. I didn’t want to leave Phoenix Drop but I also didn’t want her to leave, when I told her this I just… _snapped_. I told her I didn’t care if she left, that she could go fuck herself because she didn’t care about me and wanted, she basically said the same thing to me. I gave her a black eye and she gave me a busted lip… that day we both yelled at each other in anger that we never loved each other. If I’m being, I’d never been more in love with her that day and I honest to god had no idea why I snapped like that… maybe I have anger issues.”

“Possibly.” Aphmau didn’t have much to add to the conversation and she didn’t want to make it any worse than it already was. 

“Six years,” Dante said out of the blues after a few minutes of silence. 

“What?” 

“I wasn’t in my son’s life for six fucking years.” 

Aphmau wanted to say that she hadn’t seen _both_ of her sons for fifteen years and hadn’t seen even a second of them growing up but she knew that it would be rude and definitely self-centered if she did. All she did was hug Dante tightly and listen to him as he vented about Nicole and how he in a way, abandoned his son. 

Out of nowhere the sound of the wood creaking alerted Aphmau to tear her attention from the crying Dante to the entrance of which she came out of a while ago and found Dante. The tower creaked on its own but this sounded more ‘man made’. 

Aphmau immediately knew who it was when she saw the tiniest bit of red fabric peeking out of the entrance hole. Nicole’s head popped up a second later with a look of worry all over her face despite looking like she had been crying for the past century. 

“I should leave,” Aphmau whispered to Dante when he noticed Nicole there. 

“No,” Dante answered. 

Aphmau wanted to leave, really badly but she sat on the floor still as Dante stood up to meet with Nicole who stared at the man with a blank but worried face. 

The ex-couple stood in the broken-down guard town in silence as Aphmau sat on the floor as an awkward bystander. The tension between them was insane, they wanted to reach out to each other, hug each other but they just couldn’t… they couldn’t for different reasons or the same reasons… Aphmau wasn’t sure. Aphmau was good at knowing people’s emotions, she was an empath, but she couldn’t always tell people’s exact emotions especially when she was in this very weird and confusing time in her life. Confusing… that was the first time she had ever said that her life was confusing even after jumping through time fifteen years into the future… she never considered her life ‘confusing’. Confusing was also a good word to use with her feelings, she wasn’t sure if she was feeling every emotion at once or no emotion at all, would she ever find out? Who knew, not her. 

Aphmau’s thoughts were cut short by Nicole speaking up. 

“I never wanted to leave you.” She had heard their conversation “I just didn’t want you to be torn about my be and Phoenix Drop.” 

“You should’ve… you should’ve convinced me to leave Phoenix Drop and come with you.” Dante said softly, his voice was hoarse from the crying “I would’ve left in a heartbeat.” 

“No you wouldn’t have… don’t lie to yourself, Dante.” Nicole said stubbornly “I don’t get why you moved on though.” 

Dante shrugged “I had liked Kawaii~Chan as well and when you were gone when you left me for your village she was there. My feelings for her slowly came back and soon enough I was… I was with her.” 

“I didn’t tell you about Dmitri because I didn’t want to ruin your chance with Kawaii~chan, they're a sweet person.” A small smile crept up on Nicole’s face “You know it’s funny, you liked me and Kawaii~Chan at the same time and I liked you and Kawaii~Chan at the same time.” 

Dante let out a small laugh “Why didn’t we just all get together?” 

Nicole's eyes snapped wide “Do you-?” 

Dante got where she was going with this “I mean-” 

“Cause I do.” 

“You do?”

“Yeah, for a while now.” 

“I mean it’s always been there for me.” 

“So would you?” 

“If Kawaii~chan is up to it.” 

“Would you mind?” 

“Not really… not that I would think.” 

“Holy shit!” Aphmau snapped “Where is this conversation going!? One second you guys are crying in each other’s arms and the next you guys are thinking of having a threesome, make up your mind!” 

“Aphmau!” Nicole yelled at her as her and Dante’s faces when bright red. 

“I mean am I wrong!? Dear Irene, settle out your problems before you guys discuss what you’re gonna do in the bedroom.” 

Dante bit his lip “Okay, okay I’m sorry for snapping at you and saying I didn’t care and that I didn’t love you, I was just mad for some reason. I do love you, I have loved you, I wish I was there for Dmitri and I feel terrible that I wasn’t. I moved on because I also like Kawaii~Chan and she was the light in the darkness that you had left.” 

Nicole giggled “Understandable. I also didn’t mean to say those mean things about you and to you, I was just mad at the whole situation and I didn’t want to leave you but I also didn’t want you to be torn apart by two things you care about deeply. I ignored you because I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to risk anything which is _unlike_ me but I just wanted to stay safe in this situation.” 

“Understandable as well.” Dante laughed. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “Okay now you guys can fuck, can I at least get out of the tower first?” 

“Aphmau!” 

“What the fuck.” Dante laughed and fell to his knees as he gasped for air from how hard he was laughing. 

“What is going on!?” A high-pitched voice asked from the entrance hole making everyone freeze up in fear. 

Kawaii~chan poked their head out of the hole and stared at everyone in the tower with confusion. 

Aphmau’s groan turned into a soft laugh as she put her head in her hands in shame of what was going on. Dante was laughing too hard to explain anything so Nicole was the one to explain what had just happened with a bright red face.

“Oh, Kawaii~Chan knew Nicole~Chan was pregnant and in love with Dante~Kun.” 

“ _WHAT!?_ ” Everyone screamed and the entire mood of the room changed. Dante got off his hands and knees to stand up straight with a face of shock staring into his partner’s eyes, Nicole stood there with her mouth agape and fear in her eyes, and Aphmau sat there on the floor with her mouth agape and a slight smile on her face. 

_This is too good to be true holy shit_ Aphmau thought as the scene laid out in front of her like some sort of play. 

“Are you kidding Kawaii~Chan?” The meif’wa asked “Kawaii~Chan just didn’t think that baby bump was from Dante~Kun since you had been gone for a while. When Kawaii~Chan saw Dimitri~Kun and found out his age they put two and two together.” 

“I wanted to tell you but-” 

“Don’t worry! Kawaii~Chan is just glad that they know now, they wouldn’t have been mad even if you did tell Dante~Kun all those years ago. Kawaii~Chan knows that Dante~Kun loves them and Nekoette~Tan… that’s all that matters.” 

“So… you guys gonna tell them or what?” Aphmau asked Dante and Nicole with a smug smile. 

Nicole stared at her with deadly intentions while Dante just snorted out a laugh “Uh… honey, me and Nicole were thinking about… _things_ and realized that we still sorta kinda like each other.” 

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but we obviously wouldn’t act on those small feelings without your permission.” Dante held his partner’s hand. 

“Do you still love me?” 

“Of course honey, yes, yes! I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you, you are the best thing to happen in my life but… I also might like Nicole.” Dante rubbed his partner’s hand with his thumbs “If you are uncomfortable with us possibly acting on our feelings I would never do it, I would never want you to feel uncomfortable.” 

“Like a polyamorous relationship?” Kawaii~Chan asked. 

“I guess.” 

Kawaii~Chan stood in thought for a moment, wondering the pros and cons of this type of relationship, wondering how they’ll make it work, wondering how the relationship will work in general “ They could work on it, see how it feels to be in that type of relationship. Kawaii~chan doesn’t exactly have feelings for Nicole~Chan but that could change over time if the two get closer and things like that.” 

Aphmau realized her job was done and while Kawaii~Chan, Dante, and Nicole were all hugging and talking out their feelings Aphmau snuck away to not intrude anymore on their conversation. Aphmau had felt semi-uncomfortable being there in the first place while they talked about everything so it was a relief when she hopped off the staircase onto the nature-filled wooden floor. As she focused her attention on what was in front of her she jumped when Belladonna came into her view out of nowhere. 

Belladonna softly laughed at the woman’s jumpiness and apologized for scaring her. Belladonna asked the woman to walk with her and Aphmau gladly accepted, she had nothing else to do today so why not walk with Belladonna who she hadn’t talked to a lot since she got back from the Irene Dimension. They mostly walked in silence as they wandered the abandoned village mindlessly with the rare occasion of small talk about boring things like the weather.

Belladonna had stopped right in front of the wall that the safehold had seriously been improving, Aphmau was more than proud of everyone there. Aphmau stopped at the kharagosa’s side and turned her head towards the much taller woman. Aphmau noticed the scar on the woman’s face, it was such a small detail that Aphmau looked over it a lot but when you got to just stare in silence at the woman you started to notice it and how it deformed her face a bit. The wedding ring on Belladonna’s left hand glimmered without the sun casting light on it, the love that she had between Zoey was so beautiful that it was hard to imagine Zoey and the Titan not being together. 

Belladonna turned around and sat on the ground with her back facing the wall and leaning her head back on the stone wall, Aphmau followed in suit and sat on the cold grassy floor but instead sat in front of the woman instead of at her side. 

“How are you feeling?” Belladonna asked, she sounded like a mother. 

Aphmau didn’t want to lie to Belladonna, she would probably find out anyway if she did “Weird, I got hit with this really weird attitude today where I kinda just… I don't care.” 

“Hm, you think it might be because of the PTSD?” 

Aphmau shrugged “Possibly, the only thing that my PTSD has really affected is my sleep so maybe.” 

“Hm…” She went silent for a minute, Aphmau could hear the rustle of the trees and the small chirping of the wildlife in Belladonna’s talking absence. “You wanna leave here and go find somewhere to make the home of the Phoenix Alliance, huh?” 

“Yeah, I think it would do a lot of good but obviously as you are the alliance leader I wouldn’t confirm anything without your permission.” 

The corner of Belladonna’s mouth curled up “Hm, I like that though, I think it could do a lot of good as well.” 

A smile was brought to Aphmau’s face “Good! I’m just not sure when we should leave, I don’t want to leave Levin or Malachi but I also don’t want to stay here and ‘baby them’.” She sighed “I just… very conflicted.” 

“It’s fine, you don’t have to stress about it. If we leave, Levin and Malachi will be able to not feel as if they are depending on you and for you, we can start figuring out what you are exactly about Irene and you can start restarting your life after the time jump.” Belladonna explained, “I think the best thing for us to do honestly is to leave, leave to somewhere.” 

“But when?” 

Belladonna shrugged “Whenever a good time for departure arises, we should obviously start planning now and then get all our supplies so I’m thinking we should be ready in a few days but if you want to wait a little longer to spend time with everyone fine. I’ve spent fifteen years with these fuckers all I need to do is hang out with Zoey and I’m good.” 

Aphmau laughed “I think maybe a week? Would a week be good?” 

“A week sounds fine.” 

The two went silent, they didn’t need to end their conversation in the normal way they just both shut up and laid on the ground and let the sounds of nature absorb them. Aphmau didn’t know if Belladonna was doing this with her so she didn’t feel alone or she as well had these strange feelings that Aphmau was having but Aphmau didn’t care because the only thing on her mind was the sound of nature moving through one ear and out the other. She had to turn to her side since she was hurting her cat tail that was being pressed against the hard floor, sometimes she had totally forgotten that Laurance, her, and Katelyn all had meif’wa features now because they were such small changes in her life that she honestly wouldn’t mind staying like this since it didn’t change anything within her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO TWITCH CHAT AT TWITCH.TV!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day!!   
> Thank you so much for reading till the end and I hope you enjoyed reading!!   
> Now I hate HATE to do this but after I upload the first 10 chapters I don’t think I’m going to be able to write for a hot minute (not sure how long that means but it’s gonna be a while). See, I accidentally spilt soda on my computer like an absolute DUMBASS so we’re (me + my family) are trying to fix it.... I’m so sorry like actually so sorry and I wish it didn’t have to be this way.   
> But thank you for all the support, means everything 💕💕


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I hope you enjoy this chapter of SECRETS OF IRENE! and like every chapter, I did in fact work very hard on it HADHHA;SDFJ  
> Now I would usually put this in the ending notes but I feel like it's important enough to be put in the starting notes (Hope this won't be too long):   
> I did say this in a past authors note but after ch. 10 I will be going away (JUST FOR A LITTLE BIT) to either write the next chapter (ch. 11) or write the next 10 chapters (ch. 11-20) I'm not sure which one I'll choose but I'm sure I'll decide once I start writing!! (Also my computer is weirdly getting better??? Pogchamp? Pogchamp?)

Like Aphmau and Belladonna planned, they prepared all their stuff in a few days and then said their goodbyes for the last few days until the end of the week where they got on their boat and got ready to sail off. 

She and Laurance spoke to Zoey about the portal, they feared that if they tried to get Garroth out of the Irene Dimension Zane would just follow them, and then the world would have to deal with the malicious man that was Zane Ro’meave. They already had to deal with the fear of Zenix resurrecting the Shadow Lord and the fact that the ‘King’ that Mikai was talking about when they first met so they didn’t think that it would be a good idea to bring Zane into the fray. As they were finishing everything that they needed off while on the boat Zoey came by and told them that she caved and handed Aphmau a notebook that included all her notes on her trials and errors while trying to open the portal. She highly doubted that they were going to be able to open the portal without sacrificing some type of life force but she didn’t want to see Aphmau so sad about not being able to open the portal. 

Aphmau also briefly talked to Laurance about what she told Garroth about where she and Laurance were at the moment, he was happy that she told Garroth so he wasn’t completely in the dark. That’s really where they left it, they were ready to leave and the only person that Aphmau had to say goodbye to was Levin and Malachi, she had already said goodbye to Emmalyn and Kenmur since they weren’t coming with them and rather staying at Phoenix Drop to do their own things. Dua and Amada were also coming along since they were Aphmau’s dogs and she wanted to bring them to her possible new home. 

Levin and Malachi pulled away after hugging Aphmau for what seemed like forever. 

“ _I’m gonna miss you_ .” Malachi signed “ _But I know you’ll do great things_.” 

Aphmau smiled softly “I’ll miss you too, and thank you. I know that _you two_ will do great things with Phoenix Drop.” She put her hand on the sides of Levin and Malachi’s faces “You guys are the best lords I have seen in a long time.” 

“Thank you, mom, please be safe on your trip.” 

“I will, I want you two to be safe as well.”

“ _We will._ ” 

“I promise we will be the safest people ever.” 

Aphmau laughed softly, her laugh fading into a soft smile as her heart clenched from how much she would miss Levin and Malachi. She hugged the boys one more time before saying her goodbyes and leaving to go on the boat with everyone else that was coming with her. Her eyes were teary and her heart hurt as she got into the cabin below and closed the room that she had chosen, she was leaving her boys that she had cared for so badly. She tried to look strong, act like everything was fine but as soon as Belladonna started quietly crying because she was going to miss Zoey Aphmau broke and cried with the woman, and soon everyone was crying as they sailed away. The only people who weren’t crying were Katelyn and Aaron for they had no one to miss or to love, They sat in the corner awkwardly while talking to each other.

They sailed off into the horizon, leaving all their worries behind and hopefully starting anew. Aphmau hoped that she would actually keep her ‘promise’ and not show up at Phoenix Drop a week after leaving, she knew deep down that she wouldn’t be able to fulfill it though but she decided that she would cross that bridge when they got to it. She had no idea how long they were going to be out on the sea for but since Levin and Malachi hadn’t prepared them for a long trip Aphmau hoped they wouldn’t be out for long. Belladonna’s basic plan was to sail out for a few days while looking for a nice place to settle and once they found a place suiting the vision Belladonna had they would stop there and stay there for hopefully forever… but that last part most likely wasn’t going to happen seeing Aphmau’s recent track record with leaving. 

Kitten was always the designated driver of the ship, but Laurance got to control the ship for a few minutes and almost got them killed which very quickly got them out of their very sad depressing moment that they were in. After a few moments of awkward silence, they all started cracking jokes and talking like normal friends who totally weren’t all traumatized at one or more point in their lives. Most if not all the jokes were about Laurance’s terrible driving skills which he got very defensive of which only made Aphmau poke fun at him harder, the funniest part to Aphmau was that sometime during the night when everyone was lightly drinking the conversation/jokes got highly sexual and everyone started laughing even more and were making the funniest sexual jokes that Aphmau would forever remember. 

During their first entire day at sea, Katelyn had mentioned how some of her clothes went missing and how she heard unusual creeks in the wood at night, Aaron and Aphmau raced around the ship to make sure that no kids were stowed on board and luckily found no kids. They brushed it off by saying that Katelyn probably misplaced some clothes and that the creeks were just the ship being a ship that made noises. They joked that it was a ghost coming their way to terrorize them which didn’t sit well with Laurance since he was deathly paranoid of somehow summoning a Shadow Soul so they quickly dropped the joke. 

During their entire second day at sea, Aphmau had started reading the notebook that Zoey had written during her trials on trying to open the portal that in a way saved Aphmau and her friends but most likely getting murdered by Zane. That was all Aphmau did for the day, read, everyone else didn’t do much either. It was a hot sunny day and sweat was pouring out of everyone which in result made everyone very miserable and it would be valid that they didn’t want to do anything. 

The third day was somewhat like the first but with the first half of the day being made up of light drinking and hilarious bits and jokes that made everyone rolling on the floor at the end of it all. It was also the day that everything went wrong sadly, Aphmau was trying to calm herself and get down from her laughing high, and reading during her night shift of making sure no pirates came aboard and killed everyone seemed to be the only way to do it. Everyone was asleep and the only light she had was the full moon and the stars and the only sounds she heard were the creaking of the ship and the waves crashing against the ship, it was peaceful as her head buzzed and she barely understood any of the words she was reading. She would have to read it again some other day because right now was not the time to go all in to this and decipher every small detail in this heavily detailed book. 

Her brain seemed to only get fuzzier as she read on but she continued to read and continued to try and understand everything that was in this book. The part that she was reading read: 

“Tonight is the night where I find out if all my hard work will pay off. I went through a whole month of curating these items into essences so they would be potent enough to open the realm barrier. My only fear is that if this backfires… I will die - that’s a risk I’m willing to take, not just for Aphmau but for Levin and Malachi as well. I still remember the day that Belladonna told me what had happened, I could even sense the aura from where they vanished after Bella showed me. I don’t know where they are but I know that if I keep this up… I’ll find out. To whoever finds this book, if you find this without me giving it to you then I have most likely passed but, if the words ‘success’ is at the end then these methods have proven viable. Just remember, as I had mentioned before… this method is only possible with the ingredients of eternal life. You must recognize that by doing this, you give that up and even if you are not successful you can still lose that and more. Be careful of what you wish for - Zoey Taltatheil Luke.” 

Aphmau flipped the page, the ink on this page was more smudge and the handwriting was more messy, like the person writing the book was excited. She continued to read: 

“My methods have proven _successful_! However, I can feel the life slowly fade from my body. It is not a nice feeling at all. I have about seventy more years to live… what an experience this has been.” 

She stared at the last page for a moment, a moment that felt entirely too long but for some reason, she couldn’t tear her eyes off the page. There was literally no way that they could reopen the portal without someone possibly dying or giving up their immortality like Zoey… someone was gonna die if they opened the portal no matter what they did. She knew that Kitten and Belladonna were sweet and would _want_ to help them like this but they couldn’t… it was most likely against the rules of the universe to do something major that could affect the future or affect the ‘timeline’ that they were in. Also, Aphmau didn’t think that even if they did something major to the ‘timeline’, like how Kitten kicked Belladonna out of the rip to the Irene Dimension, Aphmau was confident that Belladonna and Kitten wouldn’t want to give up their immortality that being a Titan granted them. 

“Aphmau?” Her name was whispered into the darkness. 

She flinched and swung her legs off the wheel of the ship and looked around in the darkness under the moonlight “Hello?” She asked, fear wrapping itself in her voice. 

Silence incased the ship as Aphmau’s anxiety grew, awaiting the worse to come out of something saying her name. She slowly lowered the finished notebook down on the ground before standing up out of the chair she was in, eyes wide as she jerked her head at any tiny sound she heard.

Laurance’s cat ears popped out of nowhere which were quickly followed by Laurance’s head but Aphmau had already screamed out of the suddenness of the cat ears popping up that she didn’t even notice it was Laurance. 

“Oh, my Irene Aph!” Laurance jumped when Aphmau screamed but immediately apologized “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Laurance hugged Aphmau tightly as she softly hyperventilated. 

“Why would you do that!” She screamed and slapped his arm, pushing him away just enough to look at him better “Why did you think that was a good idea!?” 

“I’m sorry! I really am! I didn’t think I was gonna scare you. I'm sorry, it was dark and I was just trying to get to the helm. I'm so sorry!” He apologized over and over again until Aphmau had to intervene because they were getting nowhere with this. 

“It’s fine! Just- dear gods- don’t ever do that again, you scared the living shit out of me!” Aphmau ran her fingers through her hair as she let out a soft laugh “I mean like seriously dude!” 

“I’m sorry.” He laughed “I just wanted to tell you that your shift for Nightwatch is overdue and it was actually my time to watch like twenty minutes ago.” 

“Oh, shit really? My head feels fuzzy and I’ve just been reading the book that Zoey gave me.” She picked the notebook off of the floor next to the chair she was on “These notes are just so insane and it tells so much yet so little about to open the Irene portal. I’ll have to go over it again since I’m pretty buzzed right now and can’t comprehend things correctly but basically the gist of it is that someone is gonna die if we do this. Someone needs to sacrifice themself.” 

“Seriously? I know that Zoey really didn’t want us trying it because there was a high probability that it could kill us but there seriously isn’t any other way?” Laurance asked, eyebrows furrowing in worry. 

Aphmau nodded “Deadly serious. I guess since Irene was the only one that was allowed and _suppose_ to open it you literally have to sacrifice yourself if you're gonna open it yourself.” Aphmau sighed “And I wouldn’t be a skeptic of it either, I mean I might be part Irene or something that stupid portal ripped me apart!” She shrugged her right shoulder, motioning towards the right side of her body where her body was severely burned from trying to open the portal.

“I wish I could sacrifice my immortality like Zoey but… you know.” 

“Yeah, I do.” She agreed quietly “This just sucks so much like I wish we could just open it and get Garroth out without having to worry about this type of shit.” 

“Yeah.” Laurance ran his fingers through his hair and averted eye contact with Aphmau “So you should get some rest now, I mean you’ve been up for a while now.” 

Aphmau nodded “That sounds like a good idea…. How have… how have you been doing?” She asked awkwardly. 

“Oh, I'm doing, meh. Don’t really want to get into it right now, not the best time.” 

“Yeah, that’s… understandable.” 

The two stood there in awkward silence as the ship rocked side to side while the soft breeze moved the ship in a random direction where they hoped to find new land. 

Aphmau let out a sigh to break the painful silence “I’m gonna… I’m gonna go now-” Aphmau wasn’t able to finish her sentence since a loud crack of thunder rang throughout the ocean and lightning almost hit their ship. Aphmau and Laurance flinched at the loud sound and their eyes immediately became fixated on the large gray cloud ahead of them that was slowly forming into some type of tornado that was most definitely heading their way. 

The awkwardness that encased both Laurance and Aphmau was now replaced with adrenaline as their fighting instincts kicked in and they immediately began trying to get safe and out of the way of the tornado. Aphmau ran to the wheel of the ship and started redirecting it as Laurance ran down to the lower cabinet of the ship to warn everyone of what was happening upon the deck. Belladonna and Kitten were the most shocked and scared out of the group, everyone else was of course very scared that they were going to be going headfirst into a tornado but Kitten and Belladonna were the jumpiest and their vibes were all messed up. The two Titans kept mumbling to one another with wide eyes and shaking hands, it looked like the two were between being very angry and yelling at each other or being very scared and crying with each other. 

Belladonna disappeared below the ship with Kitten and Katelyn helped out with trying to steer the ship. Laurance and Aaron were making sure that the ship stayed intact as the waves crashed harder and harder against the ship, slowly breaking down the wood that the ship was made out of. Then the rain came and all hell broke loose. 

The entire ship was slippery from the rain and bodies were sliding everywhere with the harsh conditions. Aphmau had fallen into the side barriers over six times before she finally got her footing and stood right in front of the ship wheel, Katelyn and Kitten were having an even harder time but Aphmau sadly couldn’t help them because she had bigger problems to deal with, the tornado was _following them_. Every time the ship turned the tornado turned with it, it was actively trying to get them and it was terrifying. The rain wasn’t something calm that you would wish for when you were lonely - no - this rain was something murderous like it had a vengeance against everyone on this ship. The thunder and lightning wasn’t helping either inching closer and closer to the ship, catching a small part of the ship on fire only for it to be put out immediately with the rain. Katelyn was practically choking on the rain as it poured down on them, it just wouldn’t stop and every time she gasped to take a breath more rain would fill her mouth and the fact that her wet hair would get caught in her throat as well wasn’t helping her case. Laurance struggled to stay on two feet and the next time that Aphmau looked over to see him and Aaron working he was pushed up against the barrier of the ship on the floor with a face of pain and anguish as Aaron tried pulling him upwards. The rain slapped everyone in the face and about every twenty seconds a gigantic wave would hit everyone like a brick to the face and everyone on the top deck would be knocked away and they would have to reset all their hard work of getting stable. They were all bleeding in one way or another, from getting hit by the random ocean objects, from getting thrashed around like a ragdoll, or just the rain slowly turning into ice from the harsh condition and hitting them with the force of a hundred men. 

Blood was starting to mix with water as the minutes went on, as the rain poured down, and as the tornado got faster. Aphmau’s arms were starting to hurt and she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to control the ship wheel any longer without her passing out from all the blood she was losing. Kitten had made her way down to the main deck and was now helping Laurance and Aaron secure everything on the boat and make sure nothing caught on fire or broke in half. Katelyn was still by Aphmau’s side and was still trying to help her control the ship, pressing herself against Aphmau’s back and putting her hands on her to copy her movements but to just add a little more strength. Her hands were slippery with water and blood and she couldn’t get her stance entirely stable but neither could Aphmau or anyone else on the ship. 

The only thing Aphmau could hear besides the waves was her heart pounding in her ears, getting louder and louder as her fear grew, as the threat of death became more plausible, and as the amount of blood seeping out of her body got larger. 

And then Aphmau blacked out.

She woke up to bright light and a splitting headache, she was laying down on some random couch and had a warm blanket over her but that didn’t stop her body from immediately getting goosebumps as soon as she sat up, and she had two dogs sleeping in the space where her legs bent and squeezed behind her back. The cold air tickled her body and she shivered, not helping her headache at all. She sat up, careful to not disturb the dogs, and looked around as she softly touched the main point of irritation on her head, on the side of her head her fingers grazed against crusty blood and a large bump with what felt like a wire going in and out of her skin… she had stitches. Around her were broken pieces of furniture, items were thrown around the deck, other items were charred to a crisp, and some of the ship itself had massive holes and burn marks on it. The land outside of the ship was covered in a thick blanket of snow, everything was covered in white, the trees, the bushes, everything. It was like Aphmau hadn’t woken up yet and she was still in some dreamland. The worst thing about this strange dreamland was that everything was _so cold_. She was afraid to move and have more skin exposed for the cold wind to freeze and make her get even more goosebumps than she had before. She crossed her arms and rubbed them with her hands to try and get even the faintest feeling of being warm as the cold air consumed her in this strange land. There was only one time she had been in a place cold as this, back when she had to save Logan from the Northern Wolf Tribe… back when she first met Dante. She forgot the feeling of shock when you could see your breath in the cold air when you sighed or just talked. 

She looked around one more time, to make sure that everything was real and look at the people around her as well. Aaron, Laurance, and Belladonna were all huddled together with angry expressions like they were arguing, about what? Aphmau had no idea, she hadn’t focused enough to listen in on their conversation. Katelyn was outside of the ship, barely in Aphmau’s view, she was holding a map in her hand and trying to read it while the cold wind slapped hard against her face making it hard to read. Kitten actually appeared right behind Aphmau and scared her half to death but she was the one to explain everything to Aphmau so she couldn’t be _too_ mad. 

According to Kitten, after Aphmau had been knocked out things just went all to hell. Aaron almost got impaled like three times, Katelyn’s entire hand cut open when she went to grab something to stabilize herself and ended up grabbing something that just obliterated her hand but luckily it was still attached to her wrist just… very fucked up, Laurance had passed out as well when a large stray pieces of wood flew right into the man’s shoulder and he passed out from blood loss, Kitten had taken steer of the ship after Aphmau had passed out and Katelyn’s hand got fucked up and the meif’wa almost got decapitated when a large wave crashed against them and pieces of the ship went flying and one of them almost sliced right through Kitten’s head but she just barely dodged it… and then they crashed on this land that popped out of nowhere not even a minutes later. Belladonna was the only one that wasn’t injured at all during the entire fiasco, well Belladonna, two little kids that had snuck onto the ship, and the two dogs sleeping squeeze against Aphmau’s body. Nekoette~Tan and Dimtri had snuck onto their ship and were hiding in the barrels in the very back of the ship where there was a low probability of anyone finding them… Belladonna was the only one to know that they were on the ship since she was the Titan of present time. When the storm started Belladonna was the one to protect the kids and keep them safe, alongside the dogs who Belladonna knew Aphmau would sob over if they were hurt in even the slightest. 

The weirdest part of this whole situation and the most _terrifying_ in Kitten and Belladonna’s opinion is that the storm wasn’t supposed to happen, Kitten never saw a storm coming at them in the future and Belladonna never saw a storm forming when they were at sea. That storm wasn’t supposed to be there. A more terrifying thing for both Belladonna and Kitten was that their powers weren’t working, specifically, their _time_ powers weren’t working, the ones that gave Kitten the ability to see into the future and the ones that gave Belladonna to see everything that was happening at present they were in. This meant that something possibly stronger than the first beings of the universe was blocking Kitten and Belladonna’s powers or something of their same kind was blocking their powers, either way, _something_ was blocking their powers and that wasn’t good… at all. 

Katelyn grumbled as she stomped on the ship and gasped when she noticed Aphmau was awake and went in for a dive to hug the injured woman. 

“Oh, dear gods I thought you had died!” Katelyn hugged the woman tightly making her slightly wince in pain from all her muscles being _very_ sore. 

Katelyn’s words alerted everyone to turn towards Aphmau on the couch, they gasped and did the same as Katelyn, diving toward compasses the woman, hugging her tightly, and thanking the gods that Aphmau wasn’t dead. 

Aphmau thanked them for their sincerity and asked them what was going on as she _just_ woke up. “I have no idea what happened or what _is_ happening.” 

“Well, this island isn’t mapped anywhere on the map that we have which basically means we’re in the middle of nowhere,” Katelyn said with frustration in her voice. 

“Well, what about compasses? Can we figure out where we went with a compass?” Aphmau asked. 

“Already tried.” Aaron deadpanned “We found two, one of them was smashed and the other one was busted. It just kept… going insane.” 

Belladonna snapped her head towards Aaron “You didn’t tell me that.” 

“Didn’t think it was important.” 

“Didn’t- WHAT!?” 

At that moment right as Belladonna was going to go off on Aaron two little kids ran out of somewhere in the boat spooking all the adults who had totally forgotten that there were children on the boat. 

Dimitri slid to a stop in front of the adults and grabbed Nekoette~Tan as she almost toppled over when she tried to copy her older half-brother. 

Laurance lightly slapped Belladonna’s arm “Did you leave them alone!?” 

“Well, you forgot that I left them alone!” She hissed back at the Shadow Knight. 

“You know your mom is gonna kill you right?” Aphmau asked the little boy “Like she’s actually going to murder you, same for you as well Nekoette~Tan!” 

“What’s going on with Nicole, Kawaii~Chan, and Dante by the way?” Katelyn asked, “Like are they together or?” 

“Ew!” Nekoette~Tan gagged “Why would my mom and dad be with Miss. Nicole~Sama? They are married and being married is supposed to be between two people, not _three_!” 

“Aren’t you like six?” Laurance asked. 

“So no one told you guys?” Aaron asked, “Did any of your parents tell you anything about what’s happening with your family?” 

“Well my mom told me something about Mr. Dante but I kinda forgot what she said so… no.” Dimitri shrugged. 

The adults looked awkwardly between each other as the children looked at them like they were crazy, which Aphmau wouldn’t put past them, they all looked pretty deranged with their injuries. 

“I don’t think it’s our place to say anything.” Aaron wheezed softly. 

“Say what?” Dmitri asked. 

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Belladonna snapped. 

“Ouch, you’re mean you know that right?” The little boy asked the kharagosa. 

“I don’t work well with children.” 

“Didn’t you say that you wanted-” 

“Shut up.” Belladonna cut her sister off before she could say anything more. 

Katelyn clicked her tongue to cut the awkward silence that consumed the ship and its passengers. 

“So,” Katelyn drew out and somewhat snapped her head to the children “you do know that we’re lost right now?” She asked. 

“I heard Belladonna~Sama talking about it earlier!” Nekoette~Tan giggled “We know!” 

“Aren’t you a smart-ass?” Katelyn asked which resulted in Laurance slapping her shoulder and her yelping in pain “What the fuck dude!?” 

“You don’t call a kid a smart-ass!” 

“Well if I see a smart-ass I’m gonna call it what it is!” She argued. 

“What’s a smart-ass?” Nekoette~Tan asked, half the adults on the ship barked out with laughter while the other half were frozen in bewilderment that this sweet little meif’wa girl just cussed right in front of them. 

“My mom calls me that sometimes,” Dimitri added. 

“I wouldn’t blame her!” Kitten said through her laughter.

Dimitri gasped and stomped his foot on the ground, crossing his arms as he pouted “That’s not nice! None of you are nice!” Dimitri took Nekoette~Tan’s hand while everyone was still laughing “We’re gonna go on an adventure now since you guys are mean!” 

Before anyone got to object Dimitri and Nekoette~Tan sprinted off the boat and into the uncharted lands making everyone jump from how fast everything was happening. Kitten jumped over both Aphmau and the couch and ran after the two children, Aphmau and Laurance following behind her. The dogs had just been woken up and did not look like they wanted anything to do with the chase. The world around Aphmau spun as she ran side by side with Laurance, she had just woken up from being hit in the head and bleeding out, she was in no shape to start sprinting into the cold winter land but she did it anyway. 

She had never focused on Laurance or Katelyn when she woke up but as she ran on Laurance’s right she could see how their bandages wrapped all over the man’s shoulder restricting him from moving his arm a bunch. The bandages were lightly stained with red from the blood seeping from his body into the white bandages, hopefully, this island or they themselves had some _more_ medical supplies that would be able to clean them up better, Aphmau knew that because of the shipwreck they definitely didn’t have all of their medical supplies. 

The snow was hard to run against, every step she took she was only brought more down to the ground. Her legs were getting colder and colder as she kept running, the snow was working against the group as they tried to cash after the children who for some reason didn’t want adult supervision at all. Their outfits were not made for the cold conditions and it didn’t help how Aphmau still had a light layer of water on her making her even colder. 

Both her and Laurance ran into Kitten’s back as she unexpectedly stopped in the middle of their path. Aphmau almost fell in the snow but Laurance quickly grabbed her, hurting his shoulder in the process but he bit it back as he pulled Aphmau upwards to get her standing up straight. She collected herself and apologized to Laurance quietly for making him hurt his shoulder even more but he brushed it off. Kitten was staring at something right in front of her with wide eyes and fear in her eyes, her mouth was slightly agape with what looked like fog coming out of her mouth and nose every time she exhaled. Aphmau and Laurance looked over the meif’wa’s shoulder and their hearts stopped as they stared at the scene in front of them. 

Dimitri and Nekoette~Tan were cornered against a tree with about five armed men standing around them with spears being pointed at the children who were on the edge of tears. The men were in large winter outfits, the outlining of their hoods were thick fur, they wore thick scarfs that made their necks look ten times bigger and covered the bottom of their faces to only show their eyes which were white with the snowfall, they had belts all along their waist with different items like potions, weapons, rope, food, just a bunch of things that would help them in long points of travel. They made Aphmau feel colder as she reflected upon her own outfit which again, was **not** made for this type of weather. 

Aphmau and Laurance’s parental instincts kicked in and they stormed past Kitten to confront the men. Aphmau grabbed one of the men’s shoulders and whipped him around to face her, Laurance ran in the middle of the men and covered the kids to protect them. Kitten stayed backed, watching from afar and only interfere when things got really bad. 

The man flinched when he saw Aphmau, she had the face of a thousand angry mothers and she was staring right into the man’s eyes. 

“The _fuck_ do you think you’re doing with these kids!?” Aphmau spat. 

“Are you their mother?” The man asked, quivering under Aphmau’s grip. 

“I’m a guardian looking over them, but why the fuck would that matter? You’re pointing _weapons_ at _children_!” 

“Ma’am I’m so sorry we thought they were imps in disguise. My sincerest apologies.” The man slightly turned his head but kept an eye on Aphmau because he thought she was about to kill him. He snapped his fingers and said something in a different language that Aphmau didn’t understand “Mænd, våben nede, de er bare børn.” The man said to his men and they immediately put their weapons down and away on their belts. [Men, guns down, they're just kids.]

Aphmau released her grip on the man but not her look “Now who are you?” While she said this Laurance picked up Dimitri and Nekoette~Tan in his arms and comforted them while they cried in his shoulders, the Shadow Knight gave the men dirty looks as he walked out of the middle of their circle. 

The man took a shaky breath “My name is Asmund, son of Eirik. I am the leader of the proud Enki Warrior Tribe.” The man answered with fear in his voice. 

Aphmau didn’t show any emotion in her answer “My name is Aphmau, right-hand woman to the Phoenix Alliance. This is my friend Laurance, my guard.” Aphmau had learned from Garroth and Dale that you don’t say your last name to someone you have no idea of. 

Asmund nodded and took another shaky breath “May I… may I ask what brings you to our island?”

Aphmau’s expression changed, it was softer and more curious “Oh actually, we uh… we just kinda crashed here. Shipwreck and all that.” 

“Oh, so you’ve fallen victim to the cursed sea?” The man’s face was filled with empathy.

Aphmau scrunched her face in confusion “Wh-What do you mean?” She had lost all the anger that she once had. 

“I would love to speak more on this subject back at my village, but only if that’s okay with you. All I’m saying is that it’s not safe to be out in the woods for long periods of time.” 

Aphmau looked back at Laurance and Kitten who were staring at Aphmau and the man with worry in their eyes, Aphmau could tell that Laurance didn’t trust the men and Aphmau didn’t really either but what were they going to do. They were stranded on a foreign island with little food and medical supplies, along with outfits that were not fit for the climate on the weather, they weren’t going to survive on their own no matter how hard they tried. There was a fifty percent chance that this man is just a kind man and wants to help Aphmau and inform her of what this island entails and there is also a fifty percent chance that as soon as Aphmau is out of earshot the men will kill her in an instant. 

Aphmau could practically see the word ‘NO’ printed all over Laurance’s face but she softly bit her lip and turned back around with a smile “I’ll go with you, I would like to bring someone with me though if that’s okay?”

Asmund smiled softly like Aphmau and nodded his head “Of course, are you bringing in your friend over there?” The man motioned towards Laurance who was holding two softly crying children. 

Aphmau shook her head “No, I’m actually going to bring my friend who is the leader of the alliance I’m apart of. I think she may have some slight knowledge on whatever this ‘cursed sea’ is and will help explain it.” 

“Oh, you have more people with you?” Asmund asked. 

“Yes we do, three more actually all at the crash site. Behind me is my friend Kitten, she’s with us as well.” Aphmau slightly tilted over so Kitten could wave hello with a shivering body. 

The man waved hello back before returning his attention towards Aphmau “Well why don’t I just head over there then? It would be much easier than you have to grab your friend, head back here, go to my village, and then head back.” The man suggested “Of course only if you feel comfortable letting me know where you reside, I know that we didn’t start at the best of terms and I’m sorry for that. I truly didn’t know that those were actual children.” 

“Yeah, you’re going to have to explain those ‘imp’ things that you said as well as the cursed-” A cold breeze whisked past Aphmau making her skin littered with goosebumps and shiver as it tickled her skin. The children did the same and snuggled up closer to Laurance who held them tighter. 

The man laughed “You are not prepared for this type of weather are you?” 

Aphmau nodded her head as her teeth lightly clattered together. 

“Hm, I’m assuming that the rest of your group isn’t dressed for this climate either? Am I correct?” 

Aphmau nodded again “Do you or any of your men have clothes to spare for us? I’m sure that no one in my group will mind wearing the same outfit multiple times.” 

“Oh no don’t worry, my and my partner have lots of old outfits that we don’t use anymore or don’t fit us. Would you like to have them?” 

“Yes please!” Laurance called out through his chattering teeth as Aphmau agreed with him while rubbing her hands against her arms to create some warmth. 

Asmund laughed and turned to one of his men “Ahak, gå til Helen og fortæl dem, at vi har fundet nogle mennesker, der tager tøjet. Bring tøjet her bagefter.” [Ahak, go to Helen and tell them we've found some people taking the clothes. Bring the clothes here afterwards.]

The man nodded “Ja Hr!” He said before running off. [Yes sir!]

Asmund continued to stare at his men as he continued to get orders “Resten af jer, bliv her og vent på mig. Hvis jeg ikke kommer tilbage om to timer, er jeg død, og jeg vil have, at I alle finder ud af, hvor disse mennesker er, og dræber dem.” [The rest of you, stay here and wait for me. If I do not return in two hours, I'm dead, and I want you all to find out where these people are and kill them. ]

“Sir, ja sir!” The men said in unison before Asmund turned back around to greet Aphmau and Laurance with a gigantic smile. [Sir, yes sir!]

“So we’re good now?” She asked.

Asmund nodded “Yes, we can go now if you want.” 

Aphmau nodded and turned on her heels to face Kitten who was standing in the snow with her arms crossed, she got the signal in Aphmau’s eyes and immediately hopped on her feet before running back to the ship to warn everyone of this strange man named Asmund coming to see them. Laurance took his position besides Aphmau as they walked back to the ship, the kids had calmed down, but they were still a little shaken up after a group of men threatened them with large weapons, Aphmau and Laurance were still mad at Asmund and his men for that but they had to put it past them if they wanted to get anywhere on this island. Aphmau hoped that they would be able to get the winter clothes sooner than later because she really didn’t want to spend another minute in this climate with the outfit she was wearing and she was pretty sure everyone else in their group would agree with her. 

She ran her fingers through her knotted hair and let out a breath she was aware she was holding as they pushed through the snow towards their crashed ship. She was feeling so overwhelmed and she just wanted a second to stop, to pause, to do nothing, and let the weight of the word that she had been holding on her shoulders dissipate as her body began feeling numb and she finally felt free. She held back the bubble in her throat that made her want to scream, if she opened her mouth she would just let out this guttural scream that would sound like she was being murdered. She kept her mouth shut in case she messed up and let out the yell on accident, she couldn’t let anyone know she was feeling this way and she already messed up when she told Laurance and when Belladonna asked her how she was feeling. She just didn’t want anyone to worry about her, she was the only one that was allowed to worry about herself no one else… they had other problems. 

There laid the crashed ship with Belladonna, Katelyn, Aaron, and Kitten standing at the ready at the ‘entrance’ of the ship which was really just a massive hole that purposed as a way in and out of the ship. The dogs that Aphmau owned, Amada and Due also stood guard besides Katelyn and Aaron, looking strangely angry like they had sense everyone else’s mood and copied it. The trip had felt so quick but it quickly hit Aphmau that she had been staring at the ocean the entire time and time didn’t matter as her mind filled with soft buzzing sounds like flies were running around her brain as she rotted from the inside out from her emotions. For a quick second, she wished that she didn’t wake up from being knocked out. 

Aphmau and Laurance moved to their respective sides for Asmund to move forward and shake Belladonna’s extended hand. 

“Hej!” Belladonna exclaimed in a foreign language as she shook the foreign man’s hand “I assume your Asmund?” 

Asmund nodded “You would be correct! And who might you be?” 

“Belladonna Luke, leader of the Phoenix Alliance.” 

“Ah, is this the friend that you wanted to bring along Aphmau?” Asmund asked, letting his hand fall from his handshake with Belladonna. 

Aphmau nodded “She’s very smart and I thought that she might have a little knowledge of whatever is going on here.” 

“Yeah there is some obvious magick shit going on here, you gonna explain it?” Belladonna asked as Katelyn took the sniffling children away from Laurance and took them into the ship with Kitten. 

Asmund laughed “Yes of course, is there a place we can get comfortable?” Asmund softly cringed when he looked past Belladonna to see the wreck that their ship was in “If there is one?” 

Belladonna sighed “Yeah uh, we’re kinda in the worse condition right now so I suggest we just lean up against a wall and talk.” 

“Already doing that!” Aaron commented as he leaned against the ‘entrance’ of the ship. 

“Of course.” 

Everyone got situated against a wall as Asmund prepared to tell everyone what this island entailed. Katelyn put the kids to sleep in the small room that they had, even though Laurance and her were on weird terms Laurance wrapped his arm around Aphmau to get her and himself warmer, Kitten laid against Belladonna as the Kharagosa leaned on a wall next to Laurance and Aphmau, and Aaron stayed where he stood before. 

Asmund clapped his hands together as he got ready to tell his story “Now I have to say, it’s rare to see meif’wa in this region, especially _four_ meif’was!” Asmund commented, his soft laughter ringing throughout his words. 

“We’re in a new region?!” Someone asked but their words were drowned out by Katelyn, Laurance, and Aphmau softly cringing at the remembrance of being a meif’wa.

“Oh, funny story actually.” Katelyn said bitterly “We’re not actually meif’was and we’re also not from Tu’La or anything like that.” 

“Oh?” Asmund said in a questioning tone with his eyebrows raised “I’m guessing it’s a very adventurous story.” 

Laurance looked down at his feet while Katelyn and Aphmau scrunched their noses up in disgust as flashes of their time in Fenrir’s castle blazed through their minds. Laurance tried hard not to remember anything, everything was fuzzy from that night and it hurt to remember it sometimes. 

Asmund clicked his tongue “I understand, some adventures aren’t the greatest. I will say this, never tell someone from a new region that you are not from this region, it makes you look weak-” 

Aaron and Katelyn both scoffed before looking at each other slyly with softly smiles, everyone really ignored it but they knew it had to with being a Jury of Nine. 

“But I… I trust you, people.” Asmund continued after looking at the pair in confusion for a split second “You all seem very kind at heart especially with how Aphmau here protected those children.” 

“You look _angry_.” Kitten pointed out, cuddling closer to Belladonna as her cat ears shook from the cold. 

“Well, I was! These two _brats_ run off and then a group of men are pointing weapons at them for no reason! I was aggravated.” Aphmau made her defense. She didn’t mean to talk because she could still feel the bubble of anger in her throat but she shut her mouth quickly when she felt it move upward. 

“And that is justified, I completely understand and I would’ve done the same thing.” Asmund agreed with the woman, a slight hint of fear in his voice like he was afraid Aphmau was going to snap at him. “Now this ‘Ru’aun’ region that you speak of has sadly not been mapped yet for us, we have the Enki followers have been around for a very long time but we’ve only started mapping region a couple of hundred years ago and it’s not easy when you have a cursed sea at your docks.” 

Everyone spit a collective group of curses, groans, and headbanging as they wished they had never sailed off in that moment. They were stranded on a foreign island, the two Titans in the group who were supposed to know everything knew nothing, they were supposedly in a new region, AND they had nothing to survive off of unless Asmund gave them some supplies and a place to stay. Aphmau’s mind wandered to the icy shores that her gaze had been stuck on when they were walking back to the ship, for a split second, the tiniest second she thought of just running to the ocean and letting the freezing waves engulf her and she would never have to deal with any of this again. 

“There’s gotta be a way like there’s gotta be some fucking way to get back on whatever course we were on-” Aaron paused after his sentence “Did we- Did we even have a course we were on in the first place.” 

“It definitely wasn’t this course,” Belladonna said bitterly, remembering that she had no idea that this strange tornado was going to strike them out of nowhere and send them flying to another region. 

Asmund sucked in a quick breath, averting eye contact with everyone as he commented a suggestion of what they could do “I don’t suggest this, actually I would _never_ suggest this but you could ask the Demon Warlock.” 

“Okay.” Aaron snapped and walked away from this conversation “This is STUPID!” He yelled and went out into the snow. 

Everyone looked at Asmund like he was the stupidest person on the planet, which at the moment everyone thought that he totally was. Katelyn dragged herself down to sit on the floor of the ship, the coldness of the ship slightly shocking her but it wasn’t something she couldn’t handle. 

“Can you… explain why in the world we would go to someone named… the _Demon Warlock_?” Laurance asked, obvious annoyance and anger in his eyes “Can you just explain why that would ever sound like a good idea.” 

“I know, I know, it sounds stupid I know. I would say that you stay far away from him, our tribe has been at odds with him for what seems like forever. He is a powerful being, he’s the reason for these imps that litter this land, they do his sinful bidding so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty.” Asmund scoffed. 

“Yeah, but why should we go and look for him?” Laurance reiterated his question. 

“Because he’s an all-powerful being, he’s been trying to control his island for some time now. If anyone can help you get to Ru’aun it would be him, he will accept knowledge and items of value as a bribe - I wouldn’t even be suggesting this if this weren’t a possible option. I do advise to not approach him unarms, but then again do not allow him to know you are armed either.” Asmund suggested. 

“Now how would we go about finding this dude?” Kitten asked, her voice riddled with bitterness, Belladonna had her head turned away from the conversation but it was obvious she had anger in her eyes. 

“Well my people have never been able to locate his base but we have been able to ‘draw’ him out. You’ll have to just wander the island by oneself, unaccompanied by anyone.” 

“Why?” Kitten asked. 

“His minions prey on those who are alone and only show up under such circumstances. I would advise having a rendezvous point where you all can run to should you find him and are overwhelmed by his forces.” 

“This sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. At this rate, we should just steal a boat and wander the seas.” Katelyn spat, tightening her ponytail that had way too many knots in it. 

“We were hit by a ‘cursed sea’ you dumbass.” Belladonna hissed “If we wander the seas we’ll probably just end up back here, this Demon Warlock you speak of is probably also controlling it. Making sure that no one can leave so his presence is even more threatening, so he has control over everyone, they’re all stuck.” 

“How did you know that?” Asmund asked, “How did you know that the Demon Warlock controls the cursed sea.” 

“It was a hunch.” Everyone could tell that Kitten and Belladonna were obviously set off by this Demon Warlock dude but no one commented on it in fear that they would only get angrier. 

“He sounds weak, a coward if he has to take this kind of precaution.” Katelyn huffed. 

“A coward he is.” Asmund agreed “But he is intelligent and conniving. You better not be trying to make our struggles seem like idle threats… we’ve been fighting this man for years, forbidden” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way I was simply insulting the man I didn’t mean to insult you or your tribe as well.” 

“Hm, well your friend Belladonna is correct, if you were to sail out without the correct navigation or direction you will only end up back here. Unless you get lucky but getting here is rare. Now I hope that the clothes that I asked for are back at the spot we were once at so Aphmau would like to accompany me while I go back to get the clothes?” Asmund asked. 

Aphmau nodded “Of course, I mean I asked for the clothes in the first place so why wouldn’t I come.” She unwrapped herself from Laurance’s hold to stand next to Asmund, the cold air immediately nipping at her skin. 

“Is that all we have to know about the Demon Warlock and this island?” Katelyn asked.

Asmund nodded “Yes, that is just the basic knowledge you’ll need to survive. You people are more than welcome to stay at my village for now.” 

“We’ll stay here for tonight.” Kitten’s words were stronger than everyone else’s soft yes’s. She gave everyone small death stares for them to shut up.

“Okay well, Stay safe everyone I’ll be back in a second!” Aphmau waved goodbye as Asmund and her walked away from the boat to get the clothes that Asmund had offered them. 

“Don’t get murdered!” Kitten called out as everyone else yelled out their goodbye. 

Aphmau dazed away as the concept of time melted away from her mind. Time seemed to pass by so quickly but so slow like she was in this weird dimension of time that made no sense but made complete sense at the same time. It was almost like she could physically feel the energy and life draining out of her as the cold air and snow overtook her body was the only thing she could _seriously_ feel. 

Aphmau and Asmund went back to the spot where Asmund and his men had held up Nekoette~Tan and Dimtri and found a single guard standing in the snow holding multiple full leather backpacks. Aphmau quickly looked through the bags, simply unlatching the top and every bag was filled to the brim with clothes. Aphmau took the bags and thanked Asmund for the charity, Asmund accepted the thank you, and he and his guard said their goodbyes as they walked into the snowy forest back to what Aphmau assumed was Asmund’s village.

Aphmau stood still in the snow as the heavy bags pressed into her skin, causing pain on her arms and shoulders. The dry air was cruel against her throat and lungs and every inhale felt like her skin was being ripped off, the cold poked and prodded at her uncovered skin and flew under the covered skin to make even those patches have goosebumps. Her mind wandered down to the snow littered with boot tracks, dirt, rocks, and other nature items that didn’t make the snow as pure white as Aphmau had imagined. The image of just falling into the snow and letting it consume her ran through her mind as her mind slowly drifted away, but surely turned off and soon the lights in her eyes and heart would shut off too and she would be left there… a shell of the woman she wished she was. 

She headed back to the ship and distributed the bags to everyone so they could change. They all found the outfits and clothes that would be the most comfortable and would fit them the most, after getting their outfits they all split up into their own little spaces to get changed. Kitten was the one to pick out Dimitri and Nekoette~Tan’s outfits so she had to wake them up and deal with the grumpy children.

The cold air nipped at Aphmau’s skin and body as she slowly and painstakingly took off her clothes to exchange them for the new clothes. She wore a slightly itchy but warm brown gypsy top, a pair of dark grey sweatpants, a black cape, black gloves that were lined with fur, a dark grey scarf that was also lined with fur, and black snow boots. She took out her ponytail as carefully as she could without ripping chunks of her hair out but she did end up with a good-sized ball of hair in her hand which she just let fall to the ground so she didn’t have to worry about it. 

She looked at the locked door that separated the room she was in and the outside world, she considered just staying in the room and not doing anything else but stare at the ceiling and let her thoughts consume her. It took the sides of her mind to fight a little while she stared at the door dazed off from the world to finally put one foot in front of the other and unlock the door so she could go out in the cold but fresh air. 

Everyone but Kitten and the kids were out in the middle of the broken boat talking to each other, mainly about what Asmund had been talking about. They were all dressed in their own winter wear, large coats, scarfs, gloves, snow boots, the usual winter wear outfits that you would find but they were modified to fit everyone’s style which Aphmau found nice. 

She went and sat next to Belladonna, Aphmau guessed that someone had found a blanket somewhere on the boat and everyone was using it to sit on so they didn’t have to sit on the actual boat or this blanket could’ve just came out of nowhere Aphmau didn’t know. Amada and Dua snuggled up to Aphmau once they noticed her sitting down next to Belladonna, Aphmau was more than happy to run her fingers through their hair and pet them lovingly.

“So let’s just get this clear,” Laurance said as Aphmau sat down. “We can’t leave this island because we’ll just end up here again and the only way _the only_ way to try and get out is to talk to this Demon Warlock dude. This is honestly more trouble than it’s worth.” 

“It stupid.” Aaron commented, “But contacting this Demon dude is a way smarter option than just wandering the sea and possibly dying.” 

“Yeah, but we can also die from this Demon Warlock.” Katelyn pointed out. 

“Not if we’re smart about it,” Aaron said back. 

Aphmau leaned over and whispered to Belladonna “Do you know anything about this Demon Warlock?” 

Belladonna nodded “I have my suspicions.” 

“Who do you think it might be?” 

Belladonna hesitated before answering “Pluton.” 

Aphmau scrunched her face in confusion “Like the planet?” 

“Yes.” 

The cogs in Aphmau’s turned until a lightbulb stuck in her head and her face dropped in shock “You mean… ?” 

“Yep.” 

“That the planets are,” 

“Yep.” 

“Titans.” 

“Yes, the planets are the first Titans, the Titans of time are second generation. Kitten and I are second-generation Titans.” 

“Oh wow.” 

“I’m just worried about the kids.” Aphmau heard Katelyn say as her ears refocused on the conversation that Aaron, Laurance, and Katelyn were having.

“Well naturally, I mean this Demon Warlock dude supposedly ‘controls the island’ I’m sure if he finds out we have kids with us he’ll most definitely use them as blackmail if we don’t do something he likes.” Laurance ran his fingers through his hair. 

Aphmau thought quickly, what could they do to get in contact with the Demon Warlock. Her mind worked fast, it was tiring but rewarding in the end “I might have a plan.” Aphmau said out of nowhere. 

Everyone turned to her “And it is?” Aaron asked as Kitten, Dimtri, and Nekoette~Tan came out of the bottom of the ship. 

“Three of us can go on our own to wander around as Asmund said, we don’t have three dogs so someone will have to go just _all_ alone but the other two people can go with either Amada or Dua. If one of us gets overwhelmed we can just… scream possibly or if someone with a dog gets overwhelmed the dog can just run and go find the others.” 

“What about the kids?” Katelyn asked. 

“Someone stayed back like I said: only three of us have to go, not all of us. The other three can stay back and watch the kids.” Aphmau answered. 

“I wanna go!” Kitten called out “I wanna go wander the forest.” 

“I’ll go too,” Belladonna called out which shocked Aphmau. Belladonna wasn’t one to engage in important things like these, Kitten as well. Their role as Titans of Time gave them an unfair advantage to certain things and if they involved themselves in things they weren’t supposed to be involved in things could go very wrong, but then again their powers were blocked so they had no idea if they were supposed to be in events or not. 

They were probably going with their guts, that’s why Aphmau went with hers and decided that she should join the Titans as well “I’ll be the third member then.” Aphmau volunteered. 

“You sure?” Laurance asked in a comforting tone. 

“I’m sure.” She responded. 

Aaron clapped his hands “Well then that settles it, you guys go out with Amada and Dua and we’ll stay back to watch the kids.” 

“Wait what if the Demon Warlock comes after us?” Laurance asked, “I mean like how will you guys know that we need help.” 

Everyone went silent, trying to figure out what they could do if the ‘babysitters’ got overwhelmed by the Demon Warlock’s forces if things went south. That’s when Kitten’s eyes lit up like a light bulb and she hit Belladonna’s shoulder in excitement. 

“Dog whistles!” She exclaimed “We can make dog whistles for us all and if we require help we’ll just whistle really loudly and you guys will know we’ll need help. I’m sure that the dogs can help you find the third person as well if we need help.” 

“I like that,” Katelyn answered, everyone agreed. 

“Okay so when are we going to do this? Right now? In a week? Tomorrow?” Aphmau asked, “We can stay on this island forever.” 

“I say tomorrow.” Belladonna answered “We’ll settle in for the rest of today, find food, water, all that jazz, and just rest for today while we heal our wounds. Tomorrow hopefully the whistles will be ready and we can set out for the small adventure we’ll have.” 

“Okay then, let’s get settled then.” Laurance smiled and hopped up with everyone else following him.

Katelyn and Laurance went out to try and find food in the wild while Aaron and Aphmau went to scavenge any food they found in the boat. They also scavenged for any other materials that would help them in surviving, blankets, pillows, weapons, cleaning essentials, and toiletries. They decided that the best option was to not sleep in the boat but make tents in the snow, it was less of a chance of the boat collapsing on them and possibly killing them. 

They hung out for the rest of the nights in their little tents, making dog whistles and trying to survive. Aphmau ended up healing both Katelyn and Laurance’s wounds with her healing powers which surprisingly still worked even though Kitten and Belladonna’s powers had been blocked. 

The next morning they got up early - early and ready. Kitten and Laurance distributed the dog whistles before Belladonna, Kitten, and Aphmau got ready to head out and wander the island alone. Belladonna took Dua and Aphmau took Amada, Kitten didn’t really need a dog since she was a meif’wa and Katelyn did ask if Aphmau really needed a dog because she was a meif’wa as well but they just said that Aphmau wasn’t a ‘natural’ meif’wa so it was just an extra precaution. The girls set off in three directions, ‘north’, ‘northeast’, and ‘east’ none of them knew if those were really the directions since none of them had compasses. 

Aphmau walked for what seemed like hours, she wished that the Demon Warlock would just show himself so she could have an excuse to head back to her tents. Amada was the only thing that was keeping her going, the dog in the snow was the most adorable thing Aphmau had ever seen, Amada kept nudging her owner to keep going even though the poor dog had no idea what they were doing. 

Around the time where Aphmau was certain that if she went any longer she would kill herself she set up a small campsite in the hills with some sticks she set on fire from the small thing of flint and steel that Aaron had given her. Amada positioned herself in Aphmau’s lap which gave Aphmau another layer of warmth which she did not need but she greatly appreciated. Aphmau stared deep into the embers of the fire as in the far distance the beautiful sun that hung in the sky was slowly lowered down into the sea that was encased in darkness. 

Her entire body was numb, but not from the cold winter air. She lost her thought in the fire as everything around drifted away, as she let herself go into the unknown, as she felt the hand of darkness and defeated clasp onto her shoulder and pull her away from everything she once knew. Everything she once loved. 

Amada had no idea what was going on, she laid content and happy in Aphmau’s lap as her owner was finally letting herself drift away, letting the void control her body. Let herself become numb without a fight. 

Aphmau wasn’t even aware that she was slowly starting to stand up, even that being a difficult task to do. She wasn’t aware that she was putting one foot in front of the other as soft tears started raining from her eyes. She wasn’t aware how long it had been, how the stars had come up and lit up the night sky to remind her of a time when she was happy when she was like… _this_. 

She stopped in the snow. _How long had I been walking_ ? She asked herself, thinking was hard, it was using energy she no longer had _Why? Why do I feel this way?_ Tears were no longer just raining out of her eyes but pouring, her silent sobs filled the vacuum that was space as she let her knees buckle and her body slowly fall to the ground where she laid in the snow. It clogged her ear, got in the ear, snowflakes fell on her eyelashes, her lips, everything was becoming cold like stone in an abandoned building. 

_Why do I feel this way? Why am I numb? Why don’t I care? Why don’t I know? Do I want a future? Do I have a future? I didn’t think I needed a future, didn’t think I was going to have one._

So much was happening at once, everything was going so fast but so slow. Was anything even real to her anymore, was anything real in general? Would she wake up back in Phoenix Drop with Garroth softly shaking her shoulder as he warned her that Donna and Logan were currently in a fight and that she probably shouldn’t go to the plaza? Would she wake up with him by her side? 

With him. 

She wanted to be with him. 

But who was ‘him’ to her? Laurance? Garroth? Maybe it was someone else like Katelyn, Katelyn was nice, soft, kind, sweet, pretty. Katelyn could be ‘him’. 

But no, Aphmau wanted _him_ . Needed _him_ . But who was _him_ ? Would she ever find out? Would she ever discover who _he_ was? Was it Garroth? It had to be Garroth right? She was going to close her eyes and then wake up in that strange island world that only other resident was Garroth. I couldn’t be Laurance, he had caused her enough trouble… but it also couldn’t be Garroth, he fucked everything up didn’t he? Why couldn’t he just have stayed home and not gone to the wedding, yes it was the best time in her life but Dear Irene Garroth why did you have to leave? 

Laurance too! Laurance as well! Why couldn’t he just control his emotions? Why was Aphmau so important to him? Why did he have to sacrifice himself? He didn’t have to, he didn’t have to play the hero but he did…. They always do… they always play hero. 

Aphmau was playing hero. 

Levin and Malachi were playing hero. 

Katelyn, Aaron, Kitten, Belladonna, Zoey, EVERYONE! EVERYONE IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE PLAYING HERO NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO BECAUSE THAT’S ALL THEY KNOW. 

“That’s all they know,” Aphmau muttered before her eyelashes fluttered close for the last time that day and she went to sleep, she only went to sleep. She wouldn’t die now, couldn’t, it wasn’t time. It would never be time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO MY LITTLE POGCHAMPS ALJDSFKJASDF;KL I hope you are all doing well and I hope that you all liked today's chapter!! Just wanted to let you know that I love all of you /p, the ones that kudo, the ones that just read, the ones who leave comments, and the ones that exit out of this fic in disgust as they realize my writing is dogshit HAHALDJFAKLSD F F F   
>  Not but seriously I love all you guys, thank you so much like seriously.   
>  Now I'm done being sappy, I need to go write dreamnap, MCD, suck on ice that I have, and watch Ranboo + Swaggersouls because C O M F O R T   
> Love you guys <3 <3 <3


	10. Re-meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Irene had friends, lovers, loves, kin... did she not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I hope you enjoy this chapter of "Secrets of Irene" After this, I will be gone for a while to write either the next 10 chapters or just the next chapter I'm not sure rn. I hope you guys don't miss me too much and have a nice day, love you all!!   
> <3 <3 <3

Aphmau’s eyes fluttered open to a sunny sky with light and fluffy clouds with a gorgeous blue background. The sunlight beamed through the spaces in the tree branches and tree leaves that hung high above her head, she laid softly against someone’s lap as they ran their fingers through her hair in a kind gesture. As her eyes got used to the sunny sky she turned her head so she could see the culprit of whoever was messing with her hair and whose lap she was laying her head-on. 

It wasn’t Garroth was but someone who looked strangely familiar to Garroth, like a doppelganger that had a few things wrong. His hair was curlier, his lips were a little ‘bigger’, his nose was slightly different, but he did have Garroth’s eyes. The eyes that always reminded Aphmau of the sky so she no longer had to go outside. He felt the same as Garroth but he seemed calmer, more at peace with himself than Garroth was which was… it was a nice vibe to feel something that made Aphmau calmer as well. 

The man smiled softly as he and Aphmau made eye contact, Aphmau immediately knew the man’s name like she had been friends with him since the beginning of time. 

“Esmund.” She whispered, it was like she was unsure but sure of her answer at the same time. 

The man smiled even more “There we go.” He said with such content “I was waiting for you to say that.” 

“How do I know you?” She never moved her head off Esmund’s lap. 

“Well, you are a reincarnation of Irene are you not?” Esmund asked, “Or do you not know that yet?” 

“I thought I just had her powers.” 

Esmund sucked in a breath as he realized his mistake but simply shrugged “I mean it’s too late to fix my mistake so yeah… you’re a reincarnation of Irene.” 

“But how do I know you?” Aphmau was simply unfazed by the fact that she was a reincarnation of Irene, the woman that was considered a goddess and had an entire religion centering around her.

“Well not a lot of people know this but Esmund and Irene were close, _very_ close actually. So close in fact where they considered themselves in love with one another, so close that they even had kids together who would then go on to become great warriors across the different regions.” Esmund explained with love and happiness in his eyes as he talked about his lover “Now you aren’t exactly Irene but you will have her memories, her powers, and right now you just took her place in my lap. I hope that when _you_ are gone by true love will come back into my arms.” 

“When did… when did Irene die?” 

“Oh… a long while ago, on her own, it was her choice and no one was there to stop her anyway. She took her life as a realization that this was truly the end of her story and no one was there to close her book so she did it herself. She ended up here with me not so long after but somehow she also stayed behind, enough of her stayed behind to form you…. Her first reincarnation.” 

“I’m her first reincarnation?” 

The blond man nodded his head, his curls bouncing on his forehead “Yes of course! Irene was the first of us ‘gods’ and since she was the first and the most powerful she was given the amazing curse of immortality. A special type of immortality where only another ‘god’ could kill her and no one else… Shad came close… Shad came really close but not close enough. We, on the other hand, the other ‘gods’ weren’t given that beautiful curse but we did have the ability to reincarnate ourselves so we chose whoever we sought was fit, and _bam!_ We are now back with of course little tweaks like personality changes, look changes, speech patterns but it didn’t mean we aren't there anymore. As time progressed our reincarnates would regain our memories, our powers, they would become the new us.”

“Is that what’s going to happen with me?” 

“Hopefully. I mean, of course, it’s not going to happen if you kill yourself before you start learning anything.” 

It was a slap to the face “I… I wasn’t trying to-” 

“No, no, no… I understand _why_ I mean dear Titans you have been through so much and if I were you I think the whole Laurance situation would be the last straw as well. I understand why you want to, why you’re feeling this way, why you're doing the things you are doing and you can take this suggestion and throw it out the window but… you need to continue.” He caressed Aphmau’s cheek “It may seem like your story is coming to a close and it may seem like you're reaching the final chapters but you are only getting to the beginning. You have so much ahead of you and you need to see it, experience it, you need to let the book continue writing.” 

“But it’s… it’s so hard.” Aphmau let out barely a whisper as her throat clenched. 

“I know, but you are strong, you may have no energy but even if you have point five percent of your energy that’s still energy that you can use to gain _back_ your energy. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to be difficult but it’s going to be worth it… it’s going to be so incredibly worth it.” 

Aphmau took a deep breath, the air was so clear here, so… pretty, who knew that air could be pretty but it was definitely pretty wherever this place was. She didn’t feel like herself, she didn’t feel… human. Like she had ascended humanity and was no longer tied down to the shackles that were mortality. 

She let out a sigh “Will I… will I ever stop feeling this way?” 

Esmund nodded “Of course, you just have to fight through it. Laurance is fighting through it as well but it’s just a little harder for him, you both are going to get through this… Enki told me so even though he’s not supposed to.” Esmund smiled softly “I haven’t seen that little elf dork in awhile I miss him.” 

“Enki is a Divine Warrior, right? Do they have a reincarnation as well?” Aphmau asked, hearing Esmund sound so happy while talking about their friends made Aphmau happy as well. It was like hearing your best friend ramble about something they were really interested in. 

Esmund nodded “Yeah Enki has a reincarnation… you’re actually going to meet them very soon.” Esmund lifted his hand like he was about to karate chop something. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Very soon,” Esmund said right before quickly bringing his hand down to almost hit Aphmau's face but right as his hand was about to hit her face Aphmau gasped awake to see a sword centimeters above her face. 

She grabbed the sword with her gloved hands and roundhouse kicked the person holding the sword, as her foot made contact with the person’s face she pulled the sword out of their hands and threw it behind her making it slide under the snow. 

The person got smacked to the floor and she quickly straddled the attacker, pressing her knee against their jugular and quickly unsheathing a dagger she had been gifted by Belladonna and placing it against the attacker’s open mouth so she would be able to press down and cut open the person’s mouth even more. She was breathing heavy, her mind clouded with images of the wedding night, of _that_ night but she didn’t let the attacker go, she stayed still with her knee pressed against their jugular and her dagger against their mouth as she choked past a PTSD filled sob. 

The attacker that Aphmau had pinned to the ground had long pure white hair, almost as white as the snow if the snow wasn’t so dirty, some parts of their hair were braided to either keep it out of their face or for style reasons, they had beads, rope, thread, and different types of pretty attributes tied into or onto their hair as well. They had dark beige skin with pinkish undertones, their nose was very straight and prominent, their eyes were slightly almond-shaped, they had thin lips, and Aphmau had to give it to the man that if she wasn’t having a panic attack right now she would’ve thought the attacker was actually very pretty but she was having a panic attack. 

The culprit laid in the snow with a terrified expression, as someone had never taken them down this easily so Aphmau tried her best to speak through her panic attack. 

“Who the fuck are you?” She asked through her gasps of air. 

The attacker darted their eyes between the dagger in their mouth and Aphmau who was holding the dagger until Aphmau got the hint and raised the dagger from their mouth put just moved it so the pointy end of their dagger was now replacing her knee and her knee was now on their chest. 

“I didn’t know Imps were this strong.” The attacker snapped before spitting into Aphmau’s face. 

She shut her eyes as the spit landed on the bridge of her nose. She carefully opened her eyes as she wiped her face on her shoulder, not moving her knee or dagger, she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry but with how this dude was acting if she showed any amount of vulnerability he would probably kill her “I’m not a fucking Imp.” She hissed out “What is with everyone on this island thinking that new people are Imps?!” 

“Why should I believe you?” 

Aphmau hesitated, she didn’t really have anything to make the man believe that she wasn’t a Imp but there was also nothing that could prove she _was_. She pressed her dagger closer to the man’s throat so it would be harder for him to breathe normally, as she thought of anything that would help her in this situation her eyes scanned over a crusty blood wound on the man’s shoulder. She then remembered that her healing powers were getting _much_ stronger and she could now basically control them at will. 

“I can heal your wound, let me heal your wound.” 

“Why should I?” 

“Holy shit just let me!” She snapped before putting her free hand on the man’s wound and concentrating very hard on healing this man’s wound. 

The dried blood that covered the wound melted under Aphmau’s hand, the muscle and skin tissue that had been cut moved under Aphmau’s hand causing the other muscles near the wound to twitch slightly. The tissue and muscles moved back together, they melted into each other until it was as if nothing had happened. The man’s newly fixed wound was warm, so entirely warm, the blood that had melted made Aphmau’s hand wet and slimy and she could feel everything under the man’s skin and the skin itself moving in unison as it fixed itself under Aphmau’s influence. Once everything in the man’s body stopped moving she slowly pulled her hand away from the bare skin, she wondered how the man survived and continued to live with a wound that deep and so exposed to the cold weather. 

The attacker had fear in their eyes as Aphmau wiped the sticky blood onto her pant leg to get it off her hand. His breathing was fast and it looked like he was about to have a panic attack. 

“What the _fuck_ are you?”

“I don’t know,” Aphmau admitted, she remembered having a dream about this man that seemed so familiar to her but she couldn’t describe his face and how he told her something about being Irene… was she Irene? Like not just someone who was a host for her relic was she the _actual_ Irene or maybe a version of the goddess? The dream was starting to get fuzzy and she got slightly frustrated with herself. “I’m something powerful I’m pretty sure.”

“Well if you seriously aren’t an Imp and you're just like something powerful then I suggest that you get off this island before the Demon Warlock finds you.” The attacker suggested to Aphmau as his eyes were still wide with fear and shock over what Aphmau did with his wound. 

“Well that’s actually my plan, I need the Demon Warlock so me and my friends can get off this fucking island.” Aphmau rolled her eyes. 

“Wait, did you come here because of the cursed sea? A mysterious storm?” 

“Yes, I feel like that would be obvious.” 

“Well, then he already knows you're here, congratulations.” The attacker said with an unenthusiastic voice. 

“What? How?” Aphmau asked, slightly loosening her grip on her dagger. 

“If you get off me I might-” 

“I’m not getting off you. Explain.” She regained thought of her hand and held the dagger once again at the man’s throat. 

The attacker gasped and put their hand up in a defensive pose since their other once was stuck behind their back after Aphmau sat on him “I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!” He whimpered which caused Aphmau to roll her eyes. 

“Just tell me what you mean.” She said coldly. 

The man nodded “The people of this island believe that the cursed sea is an event that occurs at random… it’s not though. Most people who come from the cursed sea are suggested to go to the Demon Warlock, Asmund isn’t trying to set you up or anything, it's just anyone that’s a ‘foreigner’ that goes to the Demon Warlock has not come back… they seriously think that their helping.” 

“Oh wow, that’s terrible.” Aphmau said with sadness and fear in her voice “So they're just blind to the truth?” 

The attacker nodded “They’ve never visited him themselves so that is the truth for them, the Demon Warlock helps travelers who come from the cursed sea back home. But no, those people are picked out and because Asmund and his people are fools, suggested to go to the Demon Warlock, and… well you can guess what happens.” 

“Wow.” Aphmau didn’t even shudder, she just had a PTSD-filled panic attack not even a few minutes ago that she was still trying to get over because of a night filled with blood, she can imagine what the Demon Warlock was doing with these people. “So does he like… consume people’s power.” She didn't know why she was having this conversation, she should be curled up in a ball right now trying to let her vision become red. Her chest was tight but for some reason, she acted as if nothing was wrong, why?

“Basically yeah, no one is touched by the cursed sea unless he wants them to be.” The attacker explained, “I can only imagine you and your friends are here because of your power.” 

_Because of my powers, Belladonna, and Kitten’s_ Aphmau thought _Maybe even Laurance’s too… we’re all a mess Dear fucking Irene._

Aphmau rubbed her eyes with her free hand, yes the attacker and her were talking like friends but she still didn’t trust them. She didn’t trust anyone on this island. “So since we can’t fucking see the Demon Warlock without him stealing my powers how _can_ we get off this fucking island, hm?” 

Something sparkled in the attacker’s eyes, something that made Aphmau feel extremely uncomfortable “You’ll kiss me.” 

“Excuse me!?” Aphmau gasped “The fuck do I have to do?” 

“Look, if I wouldn’t be joking about this. My lips have been touched by a siren who has a certain kind of magic that can free you from this island.” The attacker sighed “I’m sorry, if there was another way out of this I would tell you immediately… you seem like a nice woman.”

The dagger faltered against the man’s throat, Aphmau gave up, at this point, it would be kinda pointless to keep up this defensive attitude since that man had seemed nice enough. She un-straddled the man and landed in the snow with a _thud!_ as the cold snow met contact with her legs and ass. She shivered as the man let out a deep wheeze since all the weight that was on his chest was suddenly released and he was able to breathe normally now. 

“I’m really sorry, I don’t want this to seem weird. I just want to help you.” The man said as they sat up to face Aphmau. 

She sighed “It’s fine I guess, I mean it’s better than dying to the hands of the Demon Warlock.” She made her voice all deep and scary-sounding to add the effect to the strange man’s name. 

The man let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head at Aphmau’s attempt to make the situation light-hearted. He slowly moved closer to Aphmau until his hand was on hers and their legs were almost touching. 

“Do you just want to do it now?” 

Aphmau shrugged “Yeah… I guess…” She couldn’t believe that she was still calming down from a panic attack and now she was about to make out with some random dude she found in the forest that tried killing her minutes earlier. She hates this so much. 

She stopped the attacker right before his nose brushed her, she stuck her hand up between the two mouths like a wall. 

“I’m sorry it’s just… I don’t even know your name.” 

“Oh right.” The man realized and leaned back a bit “My name’s Travis Valkrum.” 

_Full name, huh?_ Aphmau thought _Fuck it why not._ “Aphmau Shalashaska.” 

The two shook hands with soft smiles before getting back into the intimate moment through awkward means. After shaking hands Travis took the hand that he was holding and softly placed it into the snow as he took his other hand and placed it on Aphmau’s neck to rub her jaw with his thumb in such a loving and succeeding way that would usually make anyone’s stomach flutter but… Aphmau wasn’t really feeling any emotions like ‘love’ right now. 

Right before Travis’ lips reached contact with Aphmau’s something cold and wet was smacked against not only Aphmau’s face but the back of Travis’ head as well. The two flinched out of their positions and whipped their heads around to see what the fuck had hit them in the face and who the fuck threw the thing that hit them. 

Aphmau wiped her face off and came to the realization that Travis and her had been hit by snowballs, and as soon as she came to that realization two very familiar and comforting voices came from the woods that surrounded them. A smile was brought to Aphmau’s face when the two female voices hit her ears. 

Kitten and Belladonna strutted out of the woods with their eyes trained on Travis. Their eyes were filled with fury as they made their way to stand in front of Travis who looked at the ladies with subtle fear in his eyes. 

“Well hello, loverboy.” Kitten greeted with a terrifying smile “The fuck you think you’re doing to our girl?” 

“Your girl?” Travis asked, “I don’t see any wedding ring on her.” 

Belladonna let out a small bark of laughter “Doesn’t give you the right to put your hands on her.” 

“No Bella I- … I was gonna let him kiss me cause I guess that’s the only way to get off this island,” Aphmau said with a small voice, Kitten and Belladonna seemed mad and she fears they would get even madder if she spoke. Aphmau had never called Belladonna a nickname and for all, she remembered she had never _heard_ anyone call Belladonna a nickname but in that moment it just felt… right. Like they were close enough why not just make their relationship closer.

Belladonna’s features were soft when looking at Aphmau but when she snapped her attention back to Travis they turned sharp and angry again “Oh so you wanna die as well?” 

“What!?” Travis screamed, “No, no I do _not_ want to die I just… look man I just wanted to kiss a pretty girl I haven’t seen someone my age in so long.” Travis gave up with a sigh and shrugged his shoulders down. 

“There it is.” Kitten snapped her fingers “They always come crumbling when their life is threatened.” 

“So you _lied_!?” Aphmau yelled and hit the man’s arm making him wince “I was about to kiss you to get off this island you prick!” 

“I just wanted to kiss a pretty girl!” Travis repeated but more defensive this time “But like… like you guys are in serious trouble though.” He sighed as he got serious. 

“How so?” 

“It’s not safe out here and I don’t mean this in a weird way or anything but we should really go to my hideout.” He looked at all the ladies and said, “I’m serious.” 

The girls looked between themselves before Aphmau spoke up. 

“I can’t trust you- _we_ can’t trust you but… it’s either you or the Demon Warlock and from what I’m hearing about the Demon Warlock I don’t think we should choose him.” 

Aphmau, Kitten, and Belladonna all followed Travis as he led them to his little hideout/house thing. The girl stayed a bit behind in case Travis decided to turn on them and they needed to run, it was just a precaution since literally none of them trusted the man yet after what he did. 

They had to traverse the mountains a bit before reaching a fenced-off area which Aphmau assumed was Travis’ living area. Travis went and pushed on a certain part of this fenced/walled-off area and out came an entrance to whatever this living area was. Travis held open the wall for the ladies to go through and once they were through he took back his position of being the leader of the group. They walked across a wooden bridge that was suspended dozens of feet above the air, they walked down a long staircase that had a slight downward left turn before letting them onto a snowy gravel path that led to a cozy little wooden cabin that Travis opened for the ladies to go in. 

Travis went in and started getting out teacups, a teapot, tea, and started heating the stove to boil water that was inside the teapot. Kitten and Belladonna made themselves at home without having to be told but Aphmau just stood awkwardly near them, nervous about being in this stranger’s house that tried to kill her. 

“I don’t trust him.” Whispered Kitten, she kept her eyes trained on the man as he moved around in his kitchen. 

“I think we can all agree on that.” Aphmau said softly as she leaned against the wall behind her “He tried to make me kiss him because he supposedly had ‘siren powers’ to let us off this island.” 

“About that, why the fuck would you ever kiss a stranger?” Belladonna asked, “For a war hero you aren’t exactly the smartest.” 

“Okay look, I was thinking of getting off the island for the kids. I just to make sure they’re safe and to make sure we get back on course to just mind some land to settle on that no one else has colonized. I just want to stick to my promise.” 

“Promise?” 

Aphmau turned to Kitten and looked at her like she was stupid before realizing that this was a promise she had made with herself and no one else “Oh yeah I kinda made a promise to myself to not come back to Phoenix Dro after this trip because every time we go away and tell everyone that we won’t be back for a long while we just… we just end up right back there and get nowhere.” She explained, she picked at her hand and looked down at her feet. She wasn’t feeling herself at all today after what had happened but that strange dream she had lifted her spirits a little bit, she had to fight through this and all she had to remind herself was that she was stronger than she thought. 

“Hm.” Kitten nodded “By the way, I know this isn’t really the time but, how are you?” 

Aphmau snapped her head towards the woman “What?” 

“How are you?” she repeated “I know you haven’t been feeling the best so how are you right now? Any better?” 

It was like Kitten had read Aphmau’s mind, maybe she was gaining her powers back and she just wasn’t telling anybody or maybe Kitten was just really good at being a friend. 

“Uh, there’s like a feeling in me that’s saying I shouldn’t say this but I had a really weird dream last night.” 

“Oh?” Belladonna raised her eyebrow “I had a dream about a raccoon kissing me like two nights ago.” 

Aphmau snorted out a laugh “No, no, not that type of dream more like… I’m pretty sure I was visited by someone?” It sounded like she was questioning herself and she well might’ve been, as she tried to search for bits of her dream to explain to the two Titans her memory of the dream became blurry “All I really remember is me sitting under a tree, someone who’s face I can’t explain talking to me, and that someone telling me something about fighting through this because I’m stronger than what I think and how I’m something, Irene.” 

“What are you fighting through?” Kitten asked. 

It was like Aphmau was going through a therapy session, she really hadn’t prepared to answer all these questions about how she was feeling “Uh, I think I might’ve only told Laurance this but I think I might have like… depression or PTSD of some sort.” 

“Well I mean that’s understandable seeing how much shit you’ve gone through.” Kitten huffed. 

“It is?” 

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” 

A weight was lifted off Aphmau’s shoulders, a weight she wasn’t aware she was there. When those words escaped Kitten’s lips into Aphmau’s ears the locks that had been placed on Aphmau’s brain to weigh her down and make her think that she shouldn’t be feeling this way melted away and made their way into her eyes, she held back bursting into tears. Not even clouds were on Aphmau’s shoulders, not even oxygen, _nothing_ was weighing on her and somehow she wasn’t even aware, she wasn’t even _conscious_ that something was weighing on her in the first place. Her body had been switched with Atlas’ but she thought she was in control the entire time, but hopefully, just hoping she wouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security and driven into holding the world on her shoulders again. She was allowed to feel this way, allowed to feel this sadness, no one was telling her she couldn't, she was the only one controlling herself, she was manipulating herself into thinking that she couldn’t be sad about this or have PTSD…. Was this healing?

“I think I’m about to cry,” Aphmau said out of nowhere.

“What?” 

“Huh?” 

Just as Aphmau was going to break down crying Travis came over with a tray of teacups and a filled teapot reminding Aphmau that she wasn’t alone with Belladonna and Kitten and rather in the house of someone she didn’t know. 

He set down the tray and looked at the ladies in a worried manner “So, do you guys want to know anything about this island?” 

Kitten quickly took the attention away from Aphmau “Yes, what are these imps exactly? Asmund was able to answer us a little bit but not what they were _exactly_.” 

“Oh okay yeah, I can answer that.” Travis raked a hand through his white hair “Well first there are two kinds of imps, ones that are made by just nature and reproduction and the other half that are made by the Demon Warlock and are just… darkness. There are a few ones that go rogue and just try to live normal lives but most if not all are loyal to the Demon Warlock. The bad thing though, imps can only take the form of humans or things they’ve already seen so it’s common for you to see two of the same person.” 

“Oh wow, with the rouge Imps, do you know any of them?” Kitten asked. 

“Yeah, but they don’t really know how to act like humans… they’re weird.” 

Belladonna poured herself a cup of tea “Is the Demon Warlock the reason you live in this mountain all alone? You seem like a real fighter.” She asked as she started sipping on her tea. 

“Oh yeah, so the Demon Warlock is only really known in the Gal’ruk region but only really control _this_ island-” 

“Wait Gal’ruk?” Belladonna almost spit out her tea. 

“Yes, why?” 

“Holy shit!” She laughed “I was not expecting us to get that far!” 

“My Dear Irene, Gal’ruk the region of Enki, the region of knowledge and books,” Kitten said her wood like a storyteller saying the beginning of a tale. 

“Some people actually believe that my mother was a descendant of Enki themself. She was actually the one to keep the Demon Warlock at bay and protect this island from his bastard ways.” Travis explained, pouring a cup of tea for himself and grabbing himself a chair so he could sit with the ladies “the Demon Warlock wasn’t just known for this island, he would actually terrorize other islands in the Gal’ruk region but my mother actually managed to seal him off into this island but with the coast of her own life. I was her successor and I take up the job of protecting this island from the Demon Warlock as she did for many other islands… that’s why the people of this island don’t see him as a major threat… they don’t know his true power since I’ve been protecting them.” 

The room was silent for a second as Aphmau thought about and processed what Travis just explained to them. 

“But… isn’t that a bit cruel?” Aphmau asked catching Travis a bit off guard “I mean like you’re preventing the people from knowing of the Demon Warlock’s true power, his true nature. They are ignorant of the peril that they are always in.” 

“You may see it like that but… without me or my mother, this island and many others would be gone and forgotten with the only evidence of life being the people’s corpses and blood. If it means that these people are happy I’m fine with them being ignorant.” 

“So this whole Enki tribe thing… was Enki like a prominent figure on this island or is it just a Gal’ruk thing?” Belladonna asked, moving from one topic to the next. 

“I mean Gal’ruk is the region of Enki but yes Enki was very prominent on this island. They actually have some ruins on this island that are rumored to only be allowed to open by another Divine. This was Enki’s home as Irene’s home was Scaleswind.” 

Kitten snapped her fingers “I remember that!” She called out “I knew that Enki was born on an island but I’m never sure which one.” 

“I mean Gal’ruk is home to a _lot_ of islands so I wouldn’t blame you.” 

Aphmau had been looking down at her hands and contemplating as soon as Travis said that only a Divine could open the ruins that Enki left behind. If that strangely familiar man in her dream was telling the truth… she was a reincarnation of Irene and therefore technically a Divine. 

“Wait, Travis how old are you?” Kitten asked. 

“I’m forty-three.” 

Kitten and Belladonna’s eyes snapped wide and they made small gasping sounds, trying not to act like they knew something but failing at it. 

“Wasn’t uh… didn’t Enki?” Kitten cut herself off as she slightly made her voice into a whisper. 

“Yep,” Belladonna answered with no change in facial expression. 

“What? Was Enki the same age as me or something?” Travis asked with an oblivious smile. 

Aphmau turned her attention away from her hands and at the three people sitting at the table right next to her “I think I… what if I’m able to open the ruins?” 

Everyone turned their heads towards the woman, Travis with a much more confused face than Belladonna and Kitten. 

“Are you like connected to one of the Divine?” Travis asked.

Aphmau awkwardly smiled “Something like that yeah but… do you guys think that I could open the ruins? Learn some new information.” 

“I mean if you want to.” Belladonna answered, “Only if you think you’re ready for the knowledge you may or may not know.” 

Kitten gasped “What if we find a way off this stupid island through those ruins!” 

“That’d be good yeah!” Aphmau’s mood was lifted “Travis, do you know where the ruins are?” She asked, turning her attention to the white-haired man. 

“Well duh but I’ve got to confirm something,” The three ladies looked at him in anticipation, he was giving them the cliffhanger of a lifetime “Are we going on an adventure?” 

Aphmau groaned and Belladonna rolled her eyes, the two thinking that Travis was going to lay down some heavy information on them. Kitten on the other hand was laughing her ass off over Travis’ stupid joke. Travis laughed and grabbed his sword and coat from where he left them near his door. Kitten and Belladonna pushed themselves up out of their chairs and towards the front door with Aphmau following behind them, a small smile on her face after the atmosphere that had been created lifted her mood. Before Travis was about to open the front door so they could leave he snapped around and ran up his stairs, disappearing from the ladies' sight and leaving them in a cloud of confusion. He came back not so later holding three bracelets with a milky-colored crystal tied in the ropes of the bracelets. 

He held his hand out for the ladies to take the bracelets as he explained that if they ever ran into a friendly imp without him there or if they were just separated in general they could show the imp the bracelet and they would know that the ladies were cool. Belladonna, Kitten, and Aphmau took the bracelets and slid them down their wrists. After they put the bracelets on they were set and Travis once again was the leader of the group as they traversed the mountains.

The cold air prickled at Aphmau’s lungs and raised goosebumps on her skin. Even with the layers upon layers of fabric she had on the freezing weather still seemed to freeze her body. Icicles had formed on the fur bits of her coats from rubbing against the ice and getting wet, her hair was so cold she could’ve sworn that it was frozen solid. Kitten and Belladonna weren’t doing too hot either… literally. Travis was the only one who seemed as if the climate didn’t bother him one bit but Aphmau wouldn’t put it past him, she had no idea how long he had lived here on this island so she was no person to judge. They were in what seemed like an icy cavern that freaked Aphmau because of the tall ice walls and snow at her knees, she was afraid that she would get stuck in the snow as the walls crashed down upon her… she didn’t like she ‘adventure’ whatsoever and regretted even suggesting the idea. 

They were traveling through the mountains and icy land for hours, there was a small inkling of doubt that Travis had no idea where these ruins were and were just trying to get Aphmau, Kitten, and Belladonna as far away as he possibly could so he could kill them and no one would know. 

Travis walked on the ice, through the snow, and over the rocks, like it was nothing, Aphmau was generally impressed with his knowledge of the land and how he seemed as if he was totally confident with what he was doing. Even though Aphmau used to be lord of Phoenix Drop she didn’t think that could ever be as confident with the land as Travis was with this island. 

It was almost as if it was planned but as soon as the moon shined directly onto the group Travis stopped in front of them causing Kitten to almost crash into Travis, Belladonna to crash into Kitten, and for Aphmau to crash into Belladonna. Travis stabbed his heel in the ground to stop because they had reached what looked like a giant door with fancy patterns that made it look like some Vikings had come along and decided that this door would be a good place to practice their woodworking. Once the ladies situated themselves again after crashing into one another Aphmau stepped forward to take leadership of the group. 

She didn’t ask anyone for any suggestions or advice. She just did what her gut told her to do and her gut was telling her to slightly push on the gigantic doors that blended into the side of the snow and ice-covered mountains they were at the base of. She let out a small breath which she could see due to the freezing temperatures and let the pads of her gloved fingers press against the door, it was wooden even though Aphmau expected it to be made of ice, but as she thought about it she didn’t know how that would work, but the wood was cold, so it made up for the lack of ice it was made out of. 

Nothing felt different when she touched the door, she was just opening a normal door, maybe she was actually a reincarnation of Irene because she assumed that someone would definitely feel something when they tried to open the door. All she felt was coldness, empty and dark coldness that consumed her body but that could honestly just be a mix of her depression and the weather biting her in the ass if she was honest. 

The two gigantic doors creaked open after she pushed on them and it released a great cold wind that made everyone shiver, even Travis. Maybe that was the thing that Aphmau was supposed to feel but then again _everyone_ felt it so it probably wasn’t some magic thing that happened, the room that was behind the doors was probably just really cold. Stood in front of them was a gigantic cave with stalactites and stalagmites made of not only rock but ice as well. The cavern was only lit up with the occasional lantern but the area was still insanely dark. 

The group pushed forward and huddled close together as they tried to explore the gigantic cavern that was held behind those gigantic doors that took Aphmau’s breath away every time she looked at them. The doors held such wise knowledge and powers that not even Aphmau could comprehend but all she knew was that the doors know things Aphmau couldn’t even begin to know. 

As they made their way deeper inside the cavern the goosebumps on Aphmau’s skin got tighter, she found it impressive but annoying how persistent the climate was with getting people cold and making their experience on this blasted island just miserable in so many unbelievable ways. 

After searching for what felt like hours but in reality was only about thirty minutes they found another pair of doors that looked more secret than the other ones that opened up to the cavern that they were in. Aphmau once again moved to the front of the group and hesitantly placed her hand on the door, this time instead of cold wood it was cold smooth stone that could be mistaken for ice if you weren’t looking directly at it. The only design that was on the doors were three lifted rectangles in the middle of the two doors that gave the door a little three-dimensional feeling. Something different about this time when she placed her hand on the doors was that it didn’t open as soon as she pushed on it like that last pair of doors, this time she put both of her hands on the door. 

Her body and mind were filled with a wave of regret and depression of someone she seemed to once know, a wave of heartbreak and guilt, a wave of sobbing and screams that echoed through her ears and banging against the hard bones of her skull, a wave of an empty soul who wished death and horror upon everything even themself. She held back the gasps and sobs that banged against her throat and eyes so no one would think that something was wrong and worry about her. 

She pushed against the two stone doors quickly while pushing herself back away from the door at the same time. Her chest heaved as the doors slowly opened, unlike the other pair of doors these were much more uninviting. 

Behind the doors was a large and long hallway leading to a small room with what Aphmau thought was a floating book, she wasn’t sure since the hallways were so long. Vines hung from the ceiling and the place and it looked like stereotypical ruins you’d read about in a book, torches lined the walls to lit up the place and even though it looked like this place hadn’t been touched in centuries the torches were still somehow lit. There were cracks in the stones that made the hallway, small holes that could break someone’s ankles, and water that dripped from the ceiling onto small icy puddles because just everything in this cavern was cold as all hell. 

Like they did before, they started exploring the new place. They walked down the hallway huddled together and being aware of everything around them so if anything surprised them they would be ready. They pushed vines away from their faces and warned anyone if they were about to step into an ankle-breaking-hole, everything about the long hallway was ominous and scary. Whispers caressed Aphmau’s ears and empty gusts of winds fiddled with her already icy eyelashes. 

Aphmau’s assumptions were right with whatever was in the small room that was at the end of the hallway, a book floated above a stone and marble lectern that had gold in the cracks of it. A small moat surrounded the platform the lectern was on which was connected to the hallway with a small wooden bridge. A small buzzing noise encaptured the entire room but to Aphmau it sounded more like a very faint whisper. Aphmau swore that the vines in the room had small sparkles hanging off of them that lit the room up even more. 

It was unspoken but everyone knew to stay back as Aphmau crossed the bridge and made her way to the floating book. With delicate hands and gentle fingers, she opened the book which didn’t even look like it had aged or had been weathered down by nature. 

When she opened the book she was taken about by how the abundance of whispers came together to make one beautifully loud voice. 

“Irene? Is that really you?” the voice asked with softness and confusion “I never thought you’d come back to my island… in fact, I never thought I’d see you again. I miss you, I really do and I wish we could go back to who we once were but I guess… I guess the ladies of fate wouldn’t really like that.” The book sounded human, like this wasn’t a voice in Aphmau’s head reading the words to her; it was someone else entirely reading to her. 

The book let out a small laugh “I guess it's now or never, right?” The voice took a deep breath “I knew what would happen to Shad… I helped him, and if I’m sincere I don’t… I don’t regret it. This is such a difficult thing to admit and I know that but I’ve been in love with Shad for so utterly long and what happened to him broke my heart, how the darkness in his powers overtook him and the only way I knew how to help him was to… was… I helped him go deeper into the darkness.” 

_Why would you help him?_ Aphmau thought _I thought you said you’d never betray me but here you are telling me that you betrayed me and that you help the_ ** _one man_ **_that I said you couldn’t help_. 

“I know Irene, I know I betrayed you but I didn’t know how else to help the love of my life… a love that could never love me back.” 

_So you knew that he’d gain all that power?_

“Shad was a strong man, a leader, wherever he was he could gain power so I put him in the once place that would give him ultimate power… Hell. Hell is a living and breathing place and with the help of Shad’s already overwhelming power he could… he could touch the stars and be a part of the Titans we worshiped.” The book’s voice was weak and filled with regret “I’m so sorry Irene… I never wanted to choose sides. I just wanted to help the ones I love and I loved Shad _along_ with you and the other Divines, I did help you guys didn’t I?” 

_You still betrayed me_.

“I know… I regret that I really do but I don’t regret helping Shad and I know that’s just putting salt in the wound but I just needed to get this off my chest.” The voice fell silent and a hand came to Aphmau’s cheek. She looked up out of habit and saw the face of a god… the face of Enki the Keeper. 

Their face was stained with tears, their hair in a knotty, raggedy, matted mess that some people would find attractive but in that moment Aphmau just saw it as sad. Their skin was dark with highlights of a rust-red color, their eyes were filled with regret and sadness as they looked deep into Aphmau’s soul and heart, piercing their way into Aphmau’s brain making herself sad by just looking at the person in front of her. They were in a normal snow/winter outfit but with books hanging off a chain which was wrapped/hanging off their waist, they large dual-handed sword strapped diagonally to their back, daggers strapped to their thighs, and halos made of words hovering around their wrists and ankles.

“Enki?” Aphmau barely let out a whisper, her voice taken straight from her vocal cords, you could consider her silent from how quiet and broken she spoke. 

“I’m sorry lovely, Kul’Zak said I have nothing to apologize for but… but I needed to tell this to you.” 

“Lovely,” Aphmau repeated, she knew who Enki was, she remembered the two calling each other lovely and then laughing, calling each other lovely as one-handed the other tea, calling each other lovely as one healed the other wounds, calling each other lovely. 

“Your reincarnation is just as beautiful as you were. I miss you my lovely.” 

“APHMAU!” Travis screamed, punching Aphmau in the shoulder and getting her out of the weird daze she was in. 

Aphmau shook her head in confusion “Wh-What? Why are you yelling at me?” She swiped Travis’ hands off of her shoulders. 

“I’ve been calling your name for like a couple of minutes now dude!” Travis scolded “You were like staring off into the distance and mumbling nonsense!” 

Aphmau turned her head, Kitten and Belladonna both looked like they wanted to start crying, Kitten was softly grabbing onto Belladonna as she was biting her lip to hold back her tears. Aphmau wondered if Kitten and Belladonna had heard whatever this book had told her, she was still in a state of shock over what the book had said to her and what she had said back… how did she even remember who Enki was or how they called each other ‘lovely’ or the fact that he betrayed her for some guy named Shad… what type of name is Shad any way?

“I-I… sorry I didn’t know I wasn’t responding.” 

“I mean it's fine but holy shit dude, you scared the shit out of me.” Travis ran his hand through his hair as he sighed. “So did you learn anything new?” 

Aphmau shook her head “No, not it’s nothing important so I guess we can go.” 

“That’d be good, yeah.” Kitten sniffled “We can go.” 

Aphmau wanted to say something but she decided not to since it seemed like the two ladies were already hurting enough. Kitten and Belladonna walked in the front with Aphmau and Travis walking in the back, they were pretty much silent as they traveled back through the cavern, back through the icy ravine, and back through the mountains to make their way to Travis’ home. 

  
  


Aaron sat with Laurance in their tent close to a fire that Katelyn had built for them, it was late and Aphmau, Kitten, and Belladonna hadn't come back from their trip yet and it was worrying everyone. Aaron was the only one who finally spoke up about it and left Laurance to go try and find the ladies. 

He shoved on another winter coat since in the middle of the night the island just decided to get colder and freeze everything and everyone to death because it saw it as fun. He flipped the hood over his head and started exploring the snow plain for the three ladies that had volunteered to go find the Demon Warlock. 

The more he searched the more it became abundantly clear that the ladies were nowhere to be found, he didn’t know what happened but if it was anything to do with the Demon Warlock he frankly didn’t _want_ to know what happened. 

He wanted to head back to the campsite to tell everyone that Belladonna, Kitten, and Aphmau were nowhere to be found but as he turned around to head back he realized that he was lost, the white snow and blue ice was starting to blend and he had no idea where he was and where he had gone. 

In the distance unannounced to Aaron stood a small orange imp with bright yellow eyes that could pierce into anyone’s soul. They stared at Aaron with malicious intent and when the masked man finally walked away from where the imp was staying the imp closed their eyes and let the image of Aaron consume their mind. Their body slowly changed and morphed to be an exact copy of the man named Aaron. 

Once they were happy with the results the imp shook their shoulders and went to go find the campsite that Aaron was currently looking for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO TWITCH CHAT AT TWITCH.TV!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I hope you ENJOYED the chapter you just read!! Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end, means a lot.   
> I didn't really like the ending to this chapter but I didn't know any other way to put the Aaron scene in that wasn't like... in the middle of the story..... yeah  
> BUT! We've met TWO Divine Warriors now, Enki and Esmund!!! I really want to introduce you guys to all seven but I still need to watch the episodes and I'm not sure we get to see the others.... if we do then you bet your ass I'm gonna put them in there, but if they don't... I'll probably find another way HAHALDKFJ  
> But for now... goodbye, I'll see you all soon do not worry.   
> Love you guys so much!! <3 <3 <3


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